Coffees and Bricks
by DarkRedWillow
Summary: Beckett owes Castle 100 coffees. She also needs him to help her break down her walls. *Minor spoiler for KillShot and for the series in general.
1. Chapter 1

This was meant to be a one-shot, but I keep getting ideas to continue a few more chapters if people seems to like it. Also, Arise's next chapter should be up in the next couple of days. Special thanks to **Leonhart17** for beta-ing and making sure it doesn't sucks!

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><p>Richard Castle glanced around the dining table and shared a curious look with his daughter and mother, two of the most important women in his life, when a soft knock on the door eerily echoed in the writer's spacious loft. It was halfway past six and they weren't expecting any visitors.<p>

Martha waved at Castle, silently asking him to go answer while she took a sip of wine out of a rather large glass. "Anybody expecting anyone?" He asked as he stood and leisurely walked to the door.

"Julie, but she's supposed to text me before coming over. Hey, maybe it's Beckett." Alexis teased her dad and smiled when the man stuck out his tongue at her. The teenager knew her father had been antsy all day because he had gotten a text from the detective telling him it wasn't necessary to show up at the precinct since she wasn't going to be there and there weren't any new cases to work on.

"Yeah, right. She will be behind that door and I shall be named Spiderpig." He announced with a theatrical voice, his hand on the doorknob and, with one last mocking glare to his daughter, who had walked closer to see who their visitor was, opened the door widely. "My name shall remain-"

"Spiderpig. See, told you! Hey detective Beckett." Alexis smirked as she went back to sit at the table, exchanging a knowing smile with her granddaughter.

Castle gawked briefly at the woman standing uncomfortably in the hallway, confusion clear on her delicate features. "Kate."

"That'd be me." She confirmed with an odd look. "Spiderpig?"

"Oh. Um, just another endearing term from my lovely daughter. Please, come in." He backed up and gestured for her to come in, and had to refrain to roll his eyes at her when she hesitated. "Come on, Katherine, we were just finishing up dinner so no one is in the mood to bite."

All three women rolled their eyes in sync, which Castle was able to catch because of the doorway mirror. He shook his head slowly, deliberately choosing to ignore the almost creepy gesture. "Really, Castle? Endearing? Isn't that pig even stupider than Homer?" Kate raised an eyebrow at him while fighting off a smile.

"Are we a Simpsons fan, detective? That's kind of hot." He leaned in to whisper in her ear but frowned when he realized his partner's ears were nowhere in his normal reach.

"Huh."

"What?"

"You're wearing flats." Castle commented curiously, taking a step back to observe the detective more closely.

Kate's eyes narrowed and straightened her back as she stared hard at him. "Yeah, so?"

"You practically never wear flats."

"I do too." Kate argued back, suddenly annoyed.

"Yeah, sure, so that's why just last week you raced a suspect through a back alley, jumped over a car _and _a fence right into a back yard and managed to tackled the guy, a 6ft 4' man, all of it while wearing five inches stilettos."

Kate blushed under the surprised and highly impressed set of eyes that were suddenly on her. "Castle, just drop it."

"But-"

"I said drop it, Spiderpig!" Kate winced at the sharpness of her voice, instantly regretting it.

"Fine." Castle replied somewhat dryly, hurt at the young woman's short temper. It wasn't as if it was the first time he had teased her about her choice of footwear, but she had never reacted so strongly before. "What's bringing you here on a Friday night, carrying a humongous cup of coffee? Do we need to stage an intervention, detective?"

She had to smile at his attempt to lighten the atmosphere after their bickering. Why do they fight so often these days? Kate wondered and she noted, with some bitterness, that she had been the one inadvertently instigating the arguments. Her patience had been running thin ever since her shooting and she hated that she seemed to always take out her anger and frustration on her partner and best friend. "Actually," Kate started with hesitation, "this isn't for me." She took a deep breath and wordlessly handed the cup to the man and continued before anyone could interrupt her.

"I ran into your partner today and you're right, she really is a handful." Kate shot Castle a faint smirk when the writer chuckled but remained silent, knowing she wasn't done yet. "Anyway, long story short, there was some ass kicking involved, and she also relayed me your message."

At Kate's shy smile and hopeful look, Castle glanced down at the coffee and smiled at the small '100' written on the lid. He hadn't seen it before, but now it was all he could see. His eyes were full of mirth when he locked eyes with the detective and it was an odd sense of satisfaction that he watched her squirm nervously under his gaze.

"I know it's late and maybe it could have waited until morning, but...one down, ninety-nine to go." She finished softly.

Castle smiled and closed the distance between them in a second then, on an impulse, wrapped an arm around Kate's shoulders and kissed her cheek. "Thank you."

Kate was shell-shocked for a moment when she felt her partner's arm around her but she recovered quickly and patted his chest as she shot him a thankful smile. "I'll leave you guys finish dinner. And wouldn't advise you to drink all of it though, Castle, or you'll be running around the building all night long and I'll feel bad about calling you in a few hours if we get a new case."

Castle glared at her daughter for snorting, but in reality he didn't mind. At all. He quickly opened his mouth to find a reason for Beckett to stay, but the words were stolen from him as Martha stood up and walked over to them. "Nonsense dear, why don't you have dinner with us now, come on!"

"No, really I can't, I should go home." Kate protested but Martha was already preparing her a plate and Castle was gently pushing her to the table. "You heard my mother, detective. And you know that when she says 'nonsense', there is no arguing with her."

Kate rolled her eyes but she knew he was right. No one remotely sane would try butting heads with Martha Rodgers. It was particularly interesting to think that while Beckett would almost always agree with whatever the older woman said, her first instinct whenever Castle said or did something was to enter a head butting contest with him. "No, really, I'm not even hungry."

"Your pretty head might think so, but I beg to differ your stomach will be more than pleased to receive food other than coffee or stale granola bars."

"What? I have never, _ever, _eaten anything remotely stale. I'm not that stupid." Kate glared as she stood next to an empty seat, challenging Castle to reply with one of his trademark jabs while trying really hard to keep her cheeks from coloring up. Why did everything coming out of the man's mouth made her blush these days?

However, the comment she had been expecting didn't come from the man next to her, but from someone else to her right. "You know that coffee isn't exactly food either so it doesn't count."

Kate spun around to stare incredulously at Alexis, only to find the teenager staring back at her innocently. "What, I'm just saying..."

Castle gave her daughter a thumbs-up behind Beckett's back and raised his hand to run it in his hair when a pair of suspicious sienna eyes suddenly bore into him. "May I?" the man asked kindly, motioning at the woman's jacket. One glance at the steaming plate Martha had just put next to her finally made Kate caved, the muffin she had earlier in the morning haven't been far than enough.

Kate swiftly unbuttoned her coat and let Castle slide it off her shoulders while being mindful of her left side, not wanting her partner or anyone else to notice her discomfort.

Castle was busy putting her coat away but Alexis, who had been watching them from the corner of their eyes, noticed the way the detective had lowered herself cautiously and now sat a little stiffly on the chair. "Are you okay, detective Beckett?"

"Yeah, of course." Kate denied quickly. "Why?"

"What's going on?" Castle asked curiously as he came back to the table, frowning at the sudden change in mood. The fact that Kate and Alexis seemed to be having an intense but silent discussion didn't help matters. "Kate, are you alright?"

Kate sighed and visibly deflated, which only worried Castle even more. She thought of what her therapist had told her and the statement she had made about being ready to move on, and the efforts needed in order to get there. "It's nothing, Castle. I just pulled a muscle yesterday when I was looking for Travis and it's still kind of sore."

She watched as his eyes softened and gave her a quick but thorough look over before his gaze lingered over her side, and Kate could tell the exact moment Castle put the pieces of the puzzle together. "You tried climbing the ladder." He narrowed his eyes at her and clenched his jaw in frustration. "You tried to climb the ladder? That thing was over twenty feet high! You could have fallen and hurt yourself all over again! Hell, you could have-"

"Whoa, easy there, tiger! I didn't think! Should've I had been more careful? Probably, but I don't spend my days walking around thinking what I physically should and shouldn't do." Kate retorted as she tried to keep her voice down, knowing there were two other people in the room.

Castle snorted in annoyance and ignored the glare he was getting from his mother. "Clearly not, but that'd be a good start. Damn it, Kate, it's not like you broke you arm, you were shot in the chest! And considering it took over six hours of surgery to save your life, you'd think you'd be more careful."

"Richard," Martha warned him when he looked about to go for another round of yelling. She nodded her head in Kate's direction and one look at the younger woman drained him from all the anger that had raised deep inside of him at the mention of her being hurt again.

Beckett was still sitting on the chair but her eyes were dark with frustration and pain, and Castle could see she was struggling to keep her emotions under control. Still, a stray tear escaped and ran down her cheek as she turned sideways to face him. "You think I forgot? Believe me, Castle, that's all I think about. It's all I can think about but I'm trying really hard to not let it ruin my life, like it almost did with this case."

Alexis and Martha watched, concerned, as Richard ran a wary hand over his face before slumping back in his chair. Beckett looked about ready to bolt but, to her credit, she remained in her seat, quietly waiting-or dreading- what would come next. "Have you at least taken something? For the pain, I mean."

Castle breathed a little easier when the detective nodded, but he wasn't ready to throw the towel yet. "Will you go see Rogers?"

"I'm going tomorrow. I had another kind of appointment today." Kate answered softly. She felt three sets of eyes watching her intently so, after bracing herself, she raised her head to look at them. "Rogers is my physical therapist," she explained and Martha nodded in understanding while Kate could swear she saw anger fading in Alexis's eyes when she justified who Rogers was exactly.

"Oh." Beckett could see the wheels turning wildly in her partner's mind, undoubtedly attempting to figure out where she could have been earlier in the day. "You were with your dad?"

"Nope."

"Apartment hunting again?"

"Castle, I have an apartment."

"Yes, but it's small and too far away comparing to the one before. The gym?"

"It's not too small." She rolled her eyes at his insistence. It was too small and way too far for her liking but she wasn't to agree with him about that. "You're right, Castle, I spent the day at the gym and stared at the machines to do mental exercises."

"You could have gone at the gym to do other kind of watching," he whispered slyly with his eyebrows raised, enjoying this kind of bickering between them much more than the one from before.

"Castle, I'm going to smack you." She rolled her eyes again while matching Martha's smirk.

"Ah. You were with Lanie."

"Nope." Kate sighed and looked down at her plate, but she wasn't hungry anymore. "I was...I was with my therapist." Admitting to Castle about her physical mishap the day before had been something she had decided to do, but to admit about still seeing a shrink, and in front of Martha and Alexis too hadn't been planned at all. "I, I should go. It's been a long day and I have to get up early tomorrow."

"Please don't go already!" Alexis almost shouted from her place before smiling sheepishly and lowered her voice. "It's just that we were about to have a movie night, and it'd be fun if you wanted to join us. It's been awhile since we had the chance to all hang out together, you can even pick any movie you want."

Kate glanced around the table, surprised. The truth was, she didn't want to leave and go back to her _small _apartment, alone and feeling restless after today's session with her therapist. "Um."

Castle frowned and stared questionably at his daughter but she shook her head quickly, pulling out her cell phone as she sent her friend a quick text to let her know her plans had changed.

"Please? I promise my dad will behave." Alexis smirked and laughed at Castle's outraged look.

Martha took one look at all of them and decided to take the matters in her own hands. "Well, we are not getting any younger so Alexis, why don't you and Kate go pick a movie while I clean the table and Richard gather the snacks?"

Next thing Beckett knew Alexis was standing next to her, a small but genuine smile on her face and Martha had brought the dishes, minus Kate's, in the kitchen. "Sweetheart, why don't you go and start looking for a movie, I just need to talk to Kate for a second."

Alexis nodded and trotted to the living room, Kate's eyes on her retreating back. She knew why Castle wanted to talk to her and so she braced herself, waiting until she felt his hand on her shoulder. Kate's eyes focused on Richard's deep blue orbs and she unconsciously bit the inside of her cheek, not sure what to expect.

Kate swallowed back a surprised gasp when Castle engulfed her in a light but heartfelt hug, careful not to hurt her. "Thank you. I am so glad you told me," he whispered to her and it was his turn to be surprised when she returned the hug. "Oh, and by the way," he said as they pulled apart, although he kept hold of one of her hands, "what you did here, trusting me enough to share that with me, with us, was worth like twenty coffees."

The detective's laugh was music to his ears and brought an ecstatic smile to his face. "Always."

Castle watched her as she went to join his daughter in the living room and it was only when she glanced back at him with a glint in her eye that he knew; they both knew.

Part of her wall had just fallen down.


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks a lot to everyone who favorited/alerted and so on, and an extra thanks to those who took the time to review! New chapter for Arise should be up soon enough, as soon as I'll be done with school madness for the last time.

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><p>The 12th precinct was unusually quiet as Castle walked out of the elevator that morning. People were scattered around but the normally casual atmosphere was gone. Instead was a sense of dread and the writer could have swear he saw pitiful grins on two police officers already.<p>

"Bro, good you're here." Castle was startled by Esposito hissing in his ear, the man had come out of nowhere. "What'd you do?"

"What? What do you mean, I didn't do anything." Confused, Castle walked over to Beckett's desk, aware that Esposito and now Ryan were right behind him. The detective was nowhere to be seen and, by the look on his friends' faces, it was a good thing. "What's going on?" He asked and smiled, noticing the coffee waiting for him on the table, but frowned at the number '68' written on it. He was sure today was going to be coffee number sixty-nine.

"What's going on?" Ryan mimicked Castle, his eyes wide. "Beckett's been on a rampage ever since getting here this morning. Gate's a freaking picnic comparing to her."

Castle looked around the bullpen, not understanding what could have happened to get the detective in such a foul mood. "She was fine last night so it must have had happened after she left."

Esposito quirked an eyebrow and closed in on the author. "Last night?"

"Get your mind out of the gutter, Esposito. She came over for dinner because Alexis needed help with her French homework."

"Right."

Castle rolled his eyes and was about to argue back when a young officer rushed through the bullpen, looking scared. "She's coming," he hissed and practically ran for cover.

Everyone scrambled to their places and faked being busy with work as Beckett came in, her heels clicking sharply on the floor. She passed Esposito and Ryan to get to her desk and slumped in her chair, opening a thick file in front of her. "Don't you guys have Thompson's wife financials to go over?"

"It came back negative. Nothing unusual on any of her accounts for the last few months." Esposito answered quickly, his eyes on Castle.

Beckett didn't even glance at her team, her eyes glued to a cell phone detailed history bill. "Check again and if it comes back negative again, go over her sister's, brother's aunt's, neighbor, her cat's, anything, until you find something."

'Do something.' Ryan and Esposito mouthed to Castle as they walked away with a glare, obeying to the order just because they were unwilling to risk their boss' wrath again.

Castle thought for a short moment, not exactly knowing how to approach the subject. "Hey, Detective."

"Hey, Castle." Kate distractedly answered him, but she didn't grace him of her usual smile or other pleasantries. It wouldn't have been necessarily been odd just a year ago, but it definitely was now. Whether she realized it or not, they had grown closer since that night where Beckett had brought him his first coffee. She had begun opening more to him, mostly about little things, but still. She was also spending more time than ever at his loft to either help Alexis with homework, or to have movie nights with them.

The detective sometimes talked of her progress with her physical therapy, or random events that had happen to her in high school. She had shown him her book collection; had invited him over to dinner a few times. She had even fallen asleep twice against him during movie nights.

Things had been improving so much that Castle had expected a relapse and tense moments where she would close up and tell him off but, surprisingly, none of that had happened yet. Until today anyway, but it wasn't like her to take her crabby mood out on the whole precinct.

"Beckett? Kate?" Castle had to repeat her name a few times before she sighed heavily, and, with extreme caution, closed the file she had been staring at for the past ten minutes. When she finally looked at him Castle almost changed his mind. Her eyes were angry but, the man noted, deeply upset as well. If he might have walked away to give her space while she worked out on her frustration, he wasn't going to let her when the woman he loved was in so much pain. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Bull."

"Castle, just don't," Beckett warned him and the edge in her voice confirmed to the man the fact that there was something really wrong.

Acting fast so Kate couldn't react, or at least he hoped, Castle grabbed the woman's hand and hauled her off her feet and dragged her to the break room under the shocked stares of Esposito, Ryan and several other cops present in the bullpen.

Kate was so surprised when Castle had yanked her over to the break room that she didn't even think of yelling, or making him stop. There were two cops in the room when they entered and one look at the couple made them run outside. Castle turned around, closed the door, shut the blinds down and unceremoniously pushed the detective to the uncomfortable couch in the corner, his hand on her lower back to prevent her from backing out. "Sit."

"Castle-"

"I said sit." Kate glared angrily but Castle shot her a stern look he must've had picked up from her whenever she was in the interrogation room. It was the glare she reserved to the suspects that really annoyed her.

Kate finally sat with a huff, crossing her arms over her chest and staring at the far end wall. He was the one who had decided to make a scene by forcing her into the break room in front of everyone, but she was not about to spill her heart out just because she was supposed to. The worst thing was that she wanted to, she really did. But a sleepless night and a crappy morning had changed her mind.

Castle watched her a few moments to see if she would calm down enough to openly talk about what was bothering her but after five minutes of staring, he knew they'd be spending the whole day trapped in there for nothing if he didn't do something.

The writer sat next to her and, when he decided that it was safe to move closer without having to fear being shot, begun moving closer, one inch at the time. When he got close enough to the cop he tentatively took her hand and, if she stiffened, she didn't pull away.

Score one for Richard Castle.

"Like a band-aid, remember?" he gently reminded her as his thumb stroked lazy circles on her hand. "The faster it's out, the faster we can deal with it."

Castle knew it was coming when the young woman's shoulders sagged and her eyes searched aimlessly for another point to focus on. "My dad met someone."

Of all the things he had imagined and feared, the prospect of Jim Beckett having a new person in his life was not something he had thought of. "Oh."

"Yeah. Oh," Beckett agreed. "He, he came home last night after I left your place and told me he had to talk to me about something."

"Was she with him?"

"God, no. It was bad enough as it was."

"You didn't take it well."

Incredulous sienna eyes stared him down and a watery chuckle escaped her lips before she could take it back. "Wow, good deduction, Sherlock."

"Kate..."

"I know, okay? I know how ridiculous this is," she admitted with a roll of eyes, her previous frustration now directed at herself. "I just..."

"I just miss my mom so much, and I know he's never been happy since she died and I want him to be happy, but..."

"You want him to be happy with her, not anyone else," Castle finished for her, saddened as she slumped even further into the couch, took off her shoes and brought her knees to her chest to hide her face in them.

"I'm horrible," she mumbled against her knees and she crossed her arms over them to create a human shield against the world and herself. The rest of what she said was lost as her voice lowered so Castle waited patiently for about five seconds before gently nudging her with his knee. When it didn't work the man, in a bold if not suicidal move, brought his hand between her shoulder blades and ran small circles down her back.

Castle silently counted the seconds in his head before Kate realized what he was doing. By the time he reached ten, he had to bite back a smile.

When he reached twenty, the man was so giddy he was beginning to have trouble controlling his hand and had to struggle to keep it as calm and slow as he could.

When thirty echoed in his head, Castle was practically jumping up and down in his mind.

Castle frowned when he reached seventy-three because, as happy as he was, something wasn't normal. That was when he heard the slow and steady breathing coming from his friend. She had fallen asleep.

Cursing himself as well as feeling a little too proud of himself for having such a magic touch on the detective, Castle watched her with concerned features. He couldn't let her sleep in that position or she'd be in too much pain later because of the way she was putting weight on her side.

Thankful that he was sitting on her right side Castle, extremely slowly and carefully stood up and, while keeping his left arm against Beckett to keep her steady, used his right hand to turn her around. He then sat back and gently lowered her on his lap until her head rested on his thigh.

Castle held his breath as Kate moved and he braced himself to be shot in case she woke up but, to his greatest pleasure, the exhausted woman only uncurled her legs halfway on the couch and brought her hand to her face to hide from the fluorescent lights.

When he was sure she was still sleeping the writer pulled his phone out of his pocket and speed dialed Esposito. "Hey man. Yes, I'm still alive, who do you think I am? Listen, can you manage to keep anyone to come in the break room, Kate's sleeping. Esposito? Hello?"

Glaring at the phone in confusion, Castle stiffened when the break room door was silently opened two seconds later, Esposito and Ryan's heads peeking inside. Both stared in shock at the sight of their boss sleeping on Castle's lap, but they all had smiles on their faces. "Whoa."

Esposito shared a look with Castle and nodded, relieved that his friend was resting and that hell hadn't broke loose in the room. "You got it, bro. Gates' gone for the day anyway so it won't be a problem."

The Latino detective pulled back from the door, but not before shoving his cell phone in the room to take a picture of the two. "Blackmail."

"Show that to anyone and you're a dead man. I will let her hunt you down." Castle smirked.

Esposito and Ryan laughed quietly, agreeing. "No worries bro, it's for Lanie." And with that they were gone and the break room door closed. A piece of paper was scotch taped to the door seconds later and Castle knew they wouldn't be disturbed.

Inside the bullpen, Esposito was smiling and walking around the desks, his hand outstretched and gathering quite a few bills. By the time he was back to his desk Ryan was staring at him. "How did you know?"

"I didn't know anything, bro. But the way Beckett's been acting lately, I knew she wouldn't bite his head off. Not anymore." Esposito shot a knowing look to Ryan, proving that he knew more than he was letting him on. "Besides, the other bet is taking forever so I took my chances with that one."

Ryan frowned in annoyance, but just because he had lost the bet. He was sure Beckett would have been out the door in minutes, but clearly it wasn't going to be happening anytime soon. "Yeah. Come on, let's finish clearing those files before she wakes up, maybe that'll help if she can't find anything to smack us with."

Castle looked up from his phone when Kate stirred almost two hours later. Not moving and going back to the game on his phone, it took the man several seconds before curiosity got the best of him and peeked down at the detective, thinking she had gone back to sleep.

Surprised and a little shocked to see that she was awake, her eyes open and yet, still on his lap. "Stop it."

The soft, familiar mumbling shook in out of his reverie and he dropped his phone next to him, his eyes riveted on Beckett. "What?"

"You're over thinking. That's my job to freak out about everything, not yours," Kate reminded him and yet, she hadn't moved from her spot. They stayed in silence for a while, both lost in their own thoughts. "It's not about me, isn't it?"

Castle frowned and looked down at Kate, who had shifted so her head was still on the writer's lap but so she could see him as well. "What do you mean?"

Kate closed her eyes briefly before locking them with Rick's. "My dad. Him having a _girlfriend _or whatever she is, it's not about me. I mean I can hate it if I want to but I have to respect him and..."

"And if he's ready to have someone knew in his life, I shouldn't get in the way of that. Right?" she quietly asked, pinching Castle's thigh when he didn't answer right away. "It wasn't rhetorical, Castle, I really was asking."

"Oh."

"Stop saying 'oh'."

"Okay. Okay um...now I know I don't have the same insight on this because our past is different, and because I never really knew my father but, what I do know is that all I ever wanted for my mother was for her to be happy. It took her a long time though."

"How long?" Kate softly asked, curious if not eager to learn more about Castle's personal life, or any other family member.

Castle pondered the question longer than he would have liked, sighing when he found the answer. "I think my mother was never unhappy, but I believe the first time she's been happy, _in love_ happy, was with Chet, even if it didn't last very long."

Kate frowned at the memory of the late man, knowing things between him and Martha had been complicated. "That's a long time to finally be happy."

Castle looked down and let his hand brush the detective's soft hazel curls away from her face so he could see her eyes better. "I know."

Kate blinked and frowned for a fraction of a second when Castle's hand initiated contact with her hair, but didn't shy away from it. She had a headache coming on and his warm fingers through her hair surprisingly made her feel better. "I don't think I want my dad to be like that for so long," she finally whispered as tears welled up in her eyes. It was bad enough that she was stuck emotionally, her father deserved better than that.

Noticing the emotional struggle Kate was going through but not acknowledging for both their sakes, Castle grinned as an idea popped in his mind. "Does he want to introduce her to you?"

"Yeah." Kate's roll of eyes was so pronounced Castle thought they were going to get stuck backwards in her skull.

"Well..."

"Well what?" Kate demanded as she regretfully pushed herself up so she was sitting next to Rick. "Care to elaborate?"

"What if we all go out together? We could go to the Old Haunt or, somewhere else," he quickly proposed when he saw her eyes narrowing dangerously at him. 'Note to self, the bar was for them only.' "Restaurant, diner, your place, even mine if you don't want her _there_. That way it'd be less awkward for you and them."

Castle had expected to be laughed at or even hit at the not-so-subtle mention of being Kate's date so when she smiled at him (after she was done staring as if he had grown a second head), the writer fought the urge of officially asking her on a date, just the two of them. It would come when the time was right, he forcefully reminded himself.

"Really? You would do that? Is that a good idea?"

"Of course. We'll go out on dinner in a small but great place, we'll eat, we'll talk and if she's anything but sweet and great to you, I'll let you use me to make her all jealous and crazy." Castle grinned childishly, his heart swelling in his chest when he was rewarded with a sparkling smirk from the woman he loved.

"So you'll be my sugar-daddy, and my step-mother buffer?"

Castle nodded and held a hand out as he got up, inviting the detective to do the same. "Always."

The moment was lost when Castle waggled his eyebrows at her and, at that specific moment, Kate knew she was in trouble even if she had no idea why. "What?" she mumbled as she put her shoes back on.

"Nothing. Just that there are lots of ways for a sugar-daddy to be used, and they're not all aged-related, if you know what I mean."

Kate burst out laughing even as she made a disgusted face. "Eww, that's gross, Castle."

"You're the one who made the sugar-daddy reference."

"I wasn't being serious."

"I was."

"Castle..." Kate's warning died on her lips when she opened the door and saw the note stuck to it. "What is that?"

Castle gulped and peeked outside the room but, obviously, everyone had chosen that precise moment to make themselves scarce. "Nothing."

Kate glared at the man before shoving the note in his face. "Sleeping Beckett in there, enter at your own risk?"

"That's Esposito's writing, not mine." Castle innocently omitted to inform her of the picture he had taken as well. "Come on, I'll go get us coffees. Ours must be cold by now."

"Oh. Oh, Castle I'm sorry about your coffee...so I guess that one doesn't count, huh?" Kate asked but there was a slight oddness to her tone, and Castle caught it immediately.

"Yes, yes and that's too bad. But that one didn't count anyway."

Kate glanced up to him innocently, her eyes wide and curious. "Why?"

"Don't you think I don't know what you did there," he said in a low voice and Kate tensed when the man stepped closer until he body was almost glued to hers. "Tomorrow morning I want another coffee, and this time put the real number on it. Unless you're scared of two little digits?" he teased her as his hand brushed against her lower back and ran down her hip into a place it never went before.

Castle took his hand back before Kate realized exactly what he had done and left in search of fresh coffee, but not before turning around and making out the number with his fingers, a daring smirk on his face.

Kate stood outside the break room, a stunned look on her face, blushing a deep tone of red while her hand unconsciously moving to where Castle's hand had been, a small but wicked smile crept on her face as she watched him go.


	3. Chapter 3

Kate stared at the tall building that was towering over her from across the street with wide eyes, impressed if not intimidated. The private high school was made of bricks and wooden panels, had an iron gate masking the front door but that left part of the school yard visible to anyone. Its luscious trees and grass clashed with its environment, especially considering they were only a few blocks north of Time Square.

Checking her phone again as she got inside, frowning at the time, Kate waited patiently as a security guard inspected her badge, letting her go immediately with a polite smile. Another short encounter with a secretary and Kate was on her way to the far end of the building to find Castle's daughter, trying to not let worry overcome her.

The secretary that had called her an hour before had asked if she could come over because Alexis wasn't feeling well and needed to be picked up so, knowing Castle had interviews all day and that Martha was in the Hamptons for the week, Kate had accepted right away.

It had taken longer because she had been across town on a case, and traffic had been hell to deal with but she had finally made it. Beckett tried to walk quietly as to not bring more attention to her than necessary, but the five inches stilettos she had decided to wear this morning weren't helping, she groused. At least she could congratulate herself for putting on dark grey slacks and a thick but soft deep purple turtleneck instead of the jeans and leather jacket she had chosen at first. Completed with a paler grey knee length cardigan and her loose blondish curls framing her face, she would look like a respectable business woman if her NYPD badge weren't showing on her left hip, while her gun was safely tucked in its holster to avoid being stared at in fear.

Kate took a deep breath when she reached Alexis' class, wondering why the girl hadn't been in the infirmary instead. Cecily, the secretary she had talked to had informed her that the teenager was feverish but had chosen to remain in her classroom until she could leave.

Hoping the class she was about to disturb wasn't too important, Beckett knocked and waited. A woman in her fifties, wearing a dark plaid pant suit greeted her and by the look she gave her, she knew her arrival had been expected. The detective followed the teacher inside but remained on the side of the door, her eyes expertly screening the surprisingly small classroom until she spotted Alexis.

The girl was even paler than usual but still managed to shot a small but happy grin at the detective when she saw her. There were only about twelve students in the room and they were all trying to stare at Kate without being caught, but they were all failing. The professor was staring as much as the students, curiosity stretching their faces, but Kate didn't care.

She watched as Alexis put her books together and into her bag, noting that her moves were slower than usual. Reacting on instinct Beckett walked over to the desk and closed the bag before grabbing the rest of the books that didn't fit in it. "You're ready to go?"

Alexis only nodded and barely argue when Kate took her bag and book from her, worrying the woman even more.

After a quick detour to the lockers they were on their way to the loft. The teenager had been quiet during the short drive, answering Kate's questions with clipped words or grunts.

"You're sure you don't want me to call your dad? They'll let me talk to him if I play the police card." Kate finally offered once they were home. She was hiding it well but this was all starting to freak her out a little. She had no experience with sick kids, toddlers or teenagers and she wasn't sure how to handle the situation.

Alexis picked up her discomfort and stopped a few inches short of the detective, her tired face lifting to meet her gaze. "It's fine, detec- Kate," She said and corrected herself quickly, "Thanks a lot for coming and get me, but I'm okay. I must be coming down with a cold or something, I'll just go and lie down for a bit until my dad comes home. You can go if you want, I'll be fine."

"What? No, I'm not leaving you Alexis, not when you're like that. I'll stay down here if you want privacy but I am not leaving you alone."

A small grateful smile graced Alexis's lips at that. "Really?"

"Of course, silly." Kate retorted with the steadiest smile she could muster. She suddenly remembered something her mother used to do when she was sick and, hopeful she remembered right, gently came and to rest her hand on the teenager's forehead before cupping her cheeks, her thumbs stroking them lightly. "You're warm but you don't seem to be running a fever anymore. Do you want to go to bed, or snuggle up on the couch? Or maybe take a bath or a shower? Are you hungry, or thirsty?"

Alexis chuckled at the questions fired by the other woman, amused. "Breathe, Kate."

"Sorry. I'm not really good at this, am I?" Kate sighed with a sheepish smile.

Alexis smiled before wincing when she coughed. "You're perfectly fine, don't worry. Will you stay with me if I bunk on the couch? We could watch a movie together?"

The teenager's grin grew wider when Beckett nodded and put her hands on her shoulders. "Of course. Why don't you go get changed and I'll make some tea? Unless you're hungry?"

"Tea's fine. Thanks Kate, you're really sweet, you know." Kate was startled when Alexis hugged her, but she quickly hugged her back, relieved to be on the girl's good side again. "You're pretty great yourself, sweetie. Now go change."

"Yes, ma'am. Pick a movie?"

* * *

><p>Warm mugs of green tea with honey, bottles of water and various fruits were on the coffee table, and Jumanji was paused on the tv screen by the time the teenager came back downstairs, and she shot Beckett a surprised look when she saw the pillow and blankets on the couch. "Wow, you thought of everything."<p>

"You too, it seems." The detective pointed at the colorful fleece throw the ginger head girl was holding. "You get settled and I'll go and put those back in the closet." Kate was about to reach for the blankets but Alexis stopped her, grabbing the woman's wrist. "No, more is better."

"You're sure?"

The look of uncertainty in the detective's eyes tugged at Alexis's heart and she begun to really understand her father's need to make the woman's life better. She deserved better than to live a life anchored in doubt, pain and fear. "Absolutely sure."

To prove her point, Alexis gestured for Kate to sit and then took place next to her, closer than the older woman would have thought. To cover her surprise Kate reached for the mugs and handed Alexis one once she was comfortable. "Thanks."

"I love this movie, good choice Kate."

"Thanks. It was my favorite movie when I was a kid. Robin Williams is great in that one."

"I agree. Hey, you're sure it's okay for you to stay? Don't you have a case to work on?"

Beckett shook her head dismissively. "I told Esposito to take charge of the case and took the rest of the day off. It's a pretty ease case anyway, it'll get solved in no time. It's completely fine, Alexis, I promise. Now drink."

"Mmm, this is good." Alexis smiled and licked her lips in appreciation after taking a sip of the tea. "I love green tea but my dad and grams hate it, go figure."

"Yeah well, it's their loss, and it also means more for us." Kate ushered with a wink, happy that Alexis liked it.

Both settled comfortably on the couch and watched the movie quietly, exchanging random words here and there, both enjoying each other's company. Kate grinned inside when the teenager slumped against her, tired and the cold symptoms finally catching up with her. "Alexis...maybe you should go to bed? You'd be more comfortable."

"Mmm, no." Alexis's hand roamed around until she found the previously discarded pillow. The girl sluggishly opened an eye and dropped the pillow over Kate's lap and made herself comfortable, burying under the pile of blankets.

Kate froze, her arm in the air. Her eyes glanced between the screen and the girl, having not a clue what to do. She suddenly found pretty ironic that she could face down 200 lbs men and make them cowered with a glare, but an innocent teenage girl seeking comfort rendered defenceless. No, scratch that. Alexis Rodgers was anything but innocent, because she was Castle's daughter.

This was ridiculous, Beckett thought. Right now the last thing Alexis was probably thinking about was how complicated things were between the detective and her dad, she chided herself.

She had promised her therapist she'd try harder and push herself out of her comfort zone. She had actually made Dr. Burke laugh when she had told him about the coffee countdown, and blushed as he congratulated her about going through with it. And that he hoped she was going to milk that deal for its worth and use it as a way to get closer to Castle.

But, as she watched the girl on her lap, Kate realized that Castle wasn't the only person she needed to pay more effort into their relationship. She had always liked Alexis and, despite the man's constant comments about how his daughter looked up to her, she knew he wasn't just saying that to try and win her over. She had talked with the teenager enough times to see that Alexis did care about her, even though things had been strained between them lately.

Hoping she was doing the right thing, Kate slowly lowered her arm until it hovered over Alexis's shoulder and, hesitantly, softly ran a hand through the girl's ginger locks, just like her mother used to do it whenever she was sick or feeling down.

Kate stopped after a few minutes, thinking the girl had fallen asleep but a low groan told her otherwise. "Don't stop."

"Sorry, I thought you were sleeping." Kate went back to her task but instead settled on the girl's arm, stroking it slowly. "Is this okay?"

"Mmm, yes."

"Kate?" Alexis asked after a short while, her eyes on the movie but not really watching.

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry."

Kate stilled her hand, surprised. "About what?"

"About that time, at the bank? I was a bitch that day, but I didn't mean to, I'm sorry."

"Alexis, you don't have to apologize, you were going through a lot that day."

Alexis shifted so she was lying on her back, facing Kate. "Kate, I-I know how much you care about my dad and that you'll always do everything you can to protect him. Grams told me about interrupting you guys that day."

"Oh. Um..." Kate's mind was spinning. Were they really going to have that discussion now?

"You don't have to explain, I was just pointing out that maybe, you care about my dad more than you think you do."

"I... I do, but things with your dad, they're kind of complicated right now."

Alexis glanced up, delighted. "But you like him, like, more than like him? I swear I won't tell him anything."

"Alexis..."

"Are you at least trying? I know you've been through a lot but my dad, he's been waiting for so long, so if you like him too, why-"

"I think this is a conversation that needs to be done between your dad and I but yeah, I am trying, Alexis. That I can promise you."

Alexis locked eyes with the detective to see the truth in her eyes. "But you're trying? Like with the whole coffee thing?"

Kate grinned even as her stomach was knotted painfully from the girl's third degree. "Yeah, like the whole coffee thing. You know about that?"

"Yep. And it makes my dad so happy, and so giddy, it's been a while since I've seen him like that." Alexis admitted with a sad smile.

Kate only nodded, not trusting her voice. She wasn't that oblivious to the writer's swinging moods lately, knowing she was the one to blame for them. "I'm really trying, sweetie."

"Fair enough. Kate?"

"Yeah?"

"For the record, I really like you. I'm glad my dad found you."

Once again Kate was at a loss for words and, to top it all, she could feel tears gathering in her eyes. She wasn't used to this anymore. Even with her dad around she had lost the true meaning of family long ago, but Castle and his family had sneaked their way to her heart, and they were holding on tight. But to have Alexis by her side, talking to her as if she already considered her as her mother-in-law, or a big sister at least had inadvertedly tore down a piece of Kate's wall.

"I'm glad he found me too." She echoed the girl's word and, on an impulse, leaned down a pressed her lips on the teenager's forehead. "You should try and sleep, your father should be here soon.

* * *

><p>True to her words, Castle made its way into the loft about two hours later. He didn't make any sound in case his daughter was still asleep in the living room. He had gotten a couple of texts from Kate during the afternoon but his cell phone being off, he only had gotten them on his way back home.<p>

The tv was on but the sound was low, almost mute. Some kind of documentary was playing, but that was not what he was interested in. What he wanted to see was the two forms on the couch, one deeply asleep while the other dozed peacefully.

Never in his craziest dreams would he have dared imagine this: Katherine Beckett asleep half-sitting on his couch, her head buried in the armrest while his daughter slept with her head on her lap. They looked so...normal, like he dreamed his family to be.

He couldn't resist pulling out his phone and snapping a few pictures of the two, acting as quick as he could before it woke Beckett up. He saved them and planned on sending them to his mother later, but right now he needed to check on his daughter.

Kneeling down by her side, Castle checked for signs of fever, frowning when he thought she was warmer than usual. He took notes of the mugs, food and Advil on the table and, once again, his heart swelled under the torrent of emotions overwhelming him. Of course it was at that moment that Kate decided to wake up, her eyes widening slightly at the sight of Castle next to them. "Hey."

"Hey. I got your text, I am so sorry I didn't get it sooner. What happened?" He pointed at Alexis but his eyes were locked on the still sleepy detective. "Her school called me because they couldn't reach you. Alexis wasn't feeling well so I went to pick her up and brought her back here and we watched movies. Or sleep, apparently." She considered distractedly as she yawned and tried to move.

Castle was on his feet a second later, his hands coming under the pillow to hold his daughter while Beckett slowly pulled herself away from the couch. Castle's hands brushing against her leg when he reached for his daughter's head sent goosebumps down Kate's legs before spreading to her whole body, her eyes closing on their own accord. "You okay?"

Kate's eyes snapped back open when she felt the man's hand on hers, his eyes shining as he stared at her. "Yeah." She didn't have time to add anything else before she was gently dragged into the kitchen and engulfed into Castle's strong arms.

Maybe it was because she was tired, or because her talk with Alexis had left her emotionally charged but Kate found herself melting into the man's arms, hugging him back without hesitation.

Saying that Castle was surprised would have been an understatement as he felt the detective's arms around him. He had a hunch something had happened between her and his daughter but he didn't ask. They'd let him in when they'd be ready. "Thank you, for taking care of her."

"She pretty much took care of herself, I just offered tea and my lap." Kate smiled in his shoulder before pulling back slowly. "I should go, now that you're here."

"Are you sure? I can whip something up and we can talk about my boring day. I missed you today." Castle whispered the last part and pouted, bringing a blush and a small smile to Kate's face.

"I told Esposito I'd come to the precinct to help with paperwork and then um, I have an appointment later."

Castle didn't need to ask to know what kind of appointment she was referring to. "I'll see you tomorrow then? With my coffee?" He asked with a wiggle of his eyebrow.

"Of course," Kate agreed with a soft roll of eyes. "Coffee number 63 will be on my desk and waiting for you."

"You know that's not the number we had agreed on, Katherine."

Kate laughed as she walked to the front door and put on her shoes and cardigan before turning to the writer, a smirk on her face. "You will get the number I give you, Castle."

"Fine." He conceded and smiled at the woman, bringing her into another hug. "Thank you, again. You're really sweet, you know that?"

Kate smiled at Castle's words, echoing Alexis'. This time she did blush when he leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek, wishing he had went for her lips instead. "You have no idea."

"See you tomorrow, Rick."

The detective left, leaving a gawking writer to stand goofily by the door, wondering if he had dreamed all of it.

He couldn't wait for tomorrow.

* * *

><p>As promised, a tall mocha was waiting for him when he made his way through the bullpen and to Beckett's desk. There were a few jokes about her taking care of Alexis the day before, but nothing about her departing words to him as she left the night before.<p>

Castle was sipping his last drop of coffee twenty minutes later when peals of laughter coming from Esposito and Ryan startled him. He stared at them, confused, until he noticed from the corner of his eye the smirk Kate was failing to hide. "What?"

"Smooth, bro. Really. Do you want us to give you a room, or...?" Esposito laughed and walked away before Beckett lost her good mood and shoot him.

Ryan followed, but not without putting one last jab into the writer's curious gaze. "Looks like you finally got what you wanted, man." Castle stared at Ryan's back until his eyes widened comically and turned to Kate, who was staring back at him with an odd glint in her eyes.

Castle's eyes narrowed and, on a sudden hunch, raised the cup of coffee above his head and gasped. There, on the bottom, the numbers six and nine were written in bold crayon. He snapped his head back toward Kate but she was already standing next to him and he shivered when he felt her warmth breath down his ear. "Be careful what you're wishing for, Ricky."

* * *

><p>Updates should be more regular from now on since I am finally done with school, yay. Thanks a lot for readingreviewing and so on, it's really appreciated!


	4. Chapter 4

Castle almost missed it when he opened his door that morning. He was running late to go to the precinct, even though he hadn't received a call yet. He hadn't seen Beckett in three days because he had appointments and she was going up to her father's cabin for the weekend, so when his phone binged he thought about dismissing the text.

Changing his mind, he decided to check it in case it would be an address for a new case, but his insides turned into ice when he read the three words Esposito had sent him. 'Go to Beckett's.'

The cab drive was short but to the man, it wasn't fast enough. Castle had tried Beckett's phone as well as Esposito's and Ryan's on its way to the detective, but all he got was a vague reply from Ryan. 'Got a case. Go.'.

Castle practically threw a bunch of bills at the driver and jumped out of the cab before it had completely stopped and trotted up the three flights of stairs, not wanting to risk getting stuck in the old elevator. He stopped a brief moment at the detective's door as he tried to catch his breath, and got startled when the door opened before him. "Lanie?"

"Castle?"

"What's going on?" Castle asked as he entered the quiet apartment, immediately noticing bags, bottles and other various items on the kitchen counter. Kate was nowhere to be seen. "Where's Kate?"

Lanie waved him down and gestured for him to follow her. "Shh, writer boy, she's in her bedroom sleeping."

Castle's mind was spinning, and not in a good way. "What happened, why are you here?" The man was itching to go see for himself what was going on but Lanie was already dragging him to the couch, and making him sit so he couldn't see the inside of the detective's room.

"Lanie, you're kind of freaking me out here."

Lanie sighed and sat as well, running a hand through her hair. "My girl is sick and she had me promised I wouldn't call you, but it looks like someone else did. Javi?"

"Yeah. She's sick? Is this the same virus Alexis got, because-"

"This is not Alexis's fault, Castle."

The man shook his head, worry darkening his features. "What is it then, the flu, bronchitis?"

"Pneumonia. She probably would've gotten away with dealing with a regular cold if her lung hadn't been still weak from the gun shot last summer."

His lips pursed, Castle sunk deeper in the couch, absently thinking that the thing was as comfortable as a pile of bricks and made a mental note to convince his partner to buy a new one. "I thought, I thought she was fine now, she doesn't even need physical therapy anymore."

"That kind of healing sometimes takes a long time. Maybe she felt fine, and that she only felt a bit out of breath if she ran for too long or was really tired; sometimes people in hospitals catch viruses that lay dormant until something triggers it. It probably wouldn't have gotten as bad as it is now if she had the sense to see a doctor sooner too." Lanie explained with a low voice even if she knew that her friend wasn't likely to wake up anytime soon.

"Almost six months later? I mean, are you even sure it's pneumonia?" Castle argued, not liking the idea of the woman he loved being sick without even realizing it.

Lanie sighed and glared, an odd mix that the M.E. managed to pull perfectly. "Considering the doctor I dragged her to at the emergency room yesterday decided to keep under observation all night and only released her this morning under the promise that she'd have a doctor around as well as someone with her at all times, yes I'm sure."

Blood drained from Castle's face at the mention of the hospital stay. "What? Why didn't anyone called me!"

"She made me promise, but I need to go to the morgue and sign a couple of papers. I would've ask Perlmutter to do it but if you're here, would you mind staying here with her until I come back?"

Castle frowned, hurt about having being left out. "Why me? Looks like you guys have it all covered, after all she didn't even want me to know."

"Boy, I am going to smack you! Don't you know her by now? There is no one she wants more by her side than you right now, but she's too pigheaded to admit it!" Lanie wanted to hit him, but settled by poking him sharply on the chest. "Are you staying or not?"

"Of course." He immediately agreed. Nothing could keep him away from Kate now that he was there. "Is there anything I need to do?"

* * *

><p>Castle was quiet as a mouse as he entered Kate's room fifteen minutes later. He stopped and leaned against the doorframe a few moments, taking in the sight.<p>

Kate was sleeping halfway on her back, halfway on her side, her upper body propped up on a mountain of pillows. She was wearing a dark green tank top covered by a zipped black hoodie, and a pile of blankets were covering her legs and waist. She could have seemed peacefully asleep if it wasn't for a strained look on her face, and the dark circles under her eyes.

Castle walked slowly inside her room, a place he had only entered once or twice before. He took the chair vacated by Lanie earlier and sat down, removing his shoes and placed his feet on the bed; he had set the alarm on his phone for a few minutes before eleven, the time Kate would need to take her next dose of meds and the time he had asked for soup and food to be delivered.

Putting his feet on the edge of the bed, the man then settled on watching his partner and friend sleep.

Kate woke up an hour later when her foot knocked against something foreign and warm. She tried to think about what it could be, having no energy to open her eyes, but even thinking seemed to be too difficult to do at the moment. She wondered why everything hurt and it felt as if an elephant was sitting on her chest when memories of last night came back to her, although they were fuzzy. 'Oh.'

She remembered Lanie, bright lights and a lot of probing and poking, but as she tried to focus on the memories, her mind was slowly getting overwhelmed by the heavy pressure she felt in her chest. She started to breathe more heavily as it reminded her of waking up after having been shot, and she struggled to open her eyes to see where she was.

The familiar look of her room blurred its way into her mind as she finally found the strength to keep her eyes open long enough to take a look around. She sighed in relief and fought back a cough but tensed again as she noticed a set of soft blue eyes staring back at her. "Castle?"

Kate winced at the roughness of her voice and jumped when she felt a hand snaking its way behind her back to help her sit up more fully, before a glass of water was gently being pushed in her hand.

It took all of her strength to lift it to her lips but the reward of feeling the fresh water going down her sore throat was worth the effort. "Better?"

The woman nodded once and sighed as warm hands settled her back in bed. "Hey."

"Hey?" Castle retorted incredulously, his hand having moved from the woman's back to her arm and staying there. "I got a text from Esposito after three days telling me to come over, only to find Lanie already here taking care of you because you've been sick as a dog?"

Kate cringed and closed her eyes, feeling the weight of the day on her shoulders even if she hadn't been awake for more than five minutes. "I'd go for something longer but my brain and mouth aren't too cooperative at the moment."

"Kate." Castle soft voice pushed her back closer to consciousness again, and she lifted one eyelid open to shot the man a tired look. "I'm sorry, I didn't...I didn't want to worry you."

Castle clenched his jaw tighter; he'd roll his eyes if he thought it'd make a difference. "News flash, Kate, you're having a pneumonia. It's not something you get over in three days. I told you you should've seen a doctor last week when you started feeling under the weather but no, you had to try and tough it out."

He was chiding her as if she had been a child but Castle didn't care. She was in for a sea of 'I told you so's' and everything else he might be coming up with. "Did you even think of what could've happened if you didn't have the sense of calling Lanie?"

Kate only groaned and turned her head away from him, knowing he was right but unwilling to admit it. "Look at me, Kate."

"No. You want to look at me, _you _move." She retorted dryly as her hand came up to rest under her head, sighing heavily in the process.

Castle rolled his eyes and walked to the other side of the bed, mumbling something about her better not make a game out of this. "Happy?"

"Yes."

The writer stared at her in surprise but she had closed her eyes again. "Kate?"

"Castle, if you want to stay I don't want to hear any 'I told you so' or any more chiding, please. Save them for another day."

"Fine." He huffed after a moment, but only because he really didn't want to leave. "How do you feel?"

"Like crap."

His friend's miserable voice broke his heart and he felt horrible for his previous yelling. Remembering what Lanie had said, he gently pressed his hand on her forehead, frowning at its unusual warmth, as he reached for the thermometer.

She didn't even react when he put the digital thermometer in her ear, undoubtedly used to it by now. Castle was shaken at seeing her so quiet and docile and it took everything to resist from climbing in bed with her to cradle her until she was better. He jumped when the thermometer beeped and indicated a fever of 102°. "Kate?"

"Mmmm."

Castle frowned and ran a hand through her hair, finding them slightly damp. A quick check confirmed him that her clothes were clammy as well. "Do you want to take a shower, or a bath? We need to take you out of these clothes."

"Ugh, no bath." Kate turned on her other side but turned back again after a few seconds, settling on her back with a groan. "I hate this."

"I know." He said softly, his hand still in her hair. "Kate?" He called her again when she looked about to fall back asleep. "You really need to change clothes, the ones you're wearing now are too damp."

Kate's eyes opened and stared at him a long moment, her glassy eyes examining him closely. "Okay."

"Okay? Oh, okay." Castle jumped on his feet, ready to take action and eager to help. "Where do I find anything?"

"Tops are on the second drawer, pants in the last one. I think I have a shirt or hoodie left in the closet." Kate mumbled while running a hand on her face, trying desperately to wake up a bit more even though she wasn't sure if being fully awake for what was coming was a good idea.

She heard rummaging in drawers briefly and the closet door opening and closing, and then footsteps leaving her room before coming back. Kate opened one eyes to check on Castle, only to see that he was standing in the middle of the room with clothes in his hands and an odd look on his face. "What is it?"

"Um. It's just, um. I wasn't sure if you um, needed underwear?"

'Oh god, kill me now.' The detective blushed darkly as she considered her options. Did she want Richard Castle going through her panties? She rolled her eyes at herself for thinking yes. Having to have him help her change would be enough. For now. Even sick as hell she couldn't get her mind out of the gutter. "Um. No?"

"No?" Castle repeated dumbly, his jaw going slack. "Okay..."

Coming back to the bed the man put the clothes down and helped his partner sit up in bed, a hand steadying her when she swayed. "Whoa, easy there." Castle took the opportunity to run a quick hand on the sheets to see if they were okay, relieved when he found them dry. "Lanie changed them last night."

"Good. Okay...um. How, um, do you want to...?"

Kate chuckled at the situation and coughed, her hand unconsciously going up to her side to hold her ribs. "Jeez, Castle, we're both adults and yet this feel as if we were two awkward teenagers."

Castle grinned and caught the message. For today, he'd be the responsible one and the one to make the decisions, and hoped Beckett wouldn't beat him up once she'd have recovered. "Fine, detective Beckett. Move your arm."

Answering his request Castle unzipped her hoodie and gently pulled it off her shoulders, dumping it on the ground next to the bed. "Can you...?"

"Yeah."

Moving behind her Castle helped her out of her tank top and kept his eyes straight ahead, somewhat shocked that Kate didn't seem to mind too much about changing in front of him, even if technically the only thing he could see was her back.

But, as his eyes roamed over the detective's spine, something caught his eye. A thin, red line running over the length of the woman's ribs. Castle bit back a gasp when he realized what it was, not wanting to startle his friend and reveal to her what she had just unwillingly showed him.

Castle had never seen the tiniest glimpse of her scars since the shooting and, if this wasn't the way he had expected to see them for the first time, he was still glad it happened.

Noticing she was struggling with her new shirt Castle delicately seized the edge of the shirt and pulled it down all the way, the movement bringing Kate closer to him. Both bit their lips and swallowed back moans as the man's fingers grazed the detective's warm skin, oblivious of the effect it had on each other. She surprised him once again when she leaned into him, sighing deeply. "You're okay?"

He felt her nod against him, but nothing else. "Do you want to wear the sweatshirt or not?"

"Yeah."

Nodding as well, Castle moved back on the bed so he was facing her again. He grabbed the old NYPD sweater and rolled it in his hands so it was easier to pull it over Kate's head when he saw it; where it all began. The new top was cut lower than the previous one so from where he was sitting, Castle had a clear view of where bullet had hit his partner and almost killed her.

Again he didn't say a word, instead helping her pulling the shirt overt her shivering body. He then handed her the sweat pants, ready to help in any way he could but a weak but still surprisingly firm hand on his face forced him to look away while she changed.

Kate looked about to collapsed in bed when she was done but he held her one last time as he reached for a small towel. She looked at him curiously, wondering what he was up to when he brought it up under her neck and started massaging her scalp to dry her hair.

Kate all but fell back on him by the time he was done, exhausted and completely relaxed from his impromptu massage. She kept her eyes closed as she felt strong hands lowering her in bed, feeling better and warmer than half an hour before.

She was too tired to protest when Castle left her side, muttering something that made the man chuckle. She never heard his phone's alarm or the front door opening and closing, only stirring when she felt him by her side again. "Kate?"

"Mmm."

"Time to take your medication."

"Ugh."

"Come on, sweetie, I'll let you sleep after." Castle cursed himself for the slip, hoping Beckett hadn't noticed it. He felt her tense in his arms but she entered a coughing fit right after, so the man exhaled in relief. "You're worse than Lanie."

"I highly doubt that." Castle laughed as he watched her take the pills and swallow them with a sip of water. "Are you hungry? I have soup and steamed vegetables from Maoh Sung." He sang song the name, drawing a small grin from the woman. "No thanks."

Castle pursed his lips but didn't insist considering she was already practically asleep in his arms. He gently lowered her back on the bed and brought the covers up, smiling despite the situation. The woman was most likely to revert back to her usual overly independent self once she was better, but Castle was more than happy to take care of her and chip down whatever part of her walls he could while he had the chance.

* * *

><p>Kate woke up to the sound of sharp, repeated clicking sounds three hours later. Grateful that she could take a deep breath without hurting too much, she turned on her side to face the source of the noise.<p>

Castle was sitting in a chair next to her bed and was typing almost furiously, his brows burrowed and his lips pursed. The typing stopped as he heard the ruffling of sheets and glanced up, a bright smile on his face when he saw her awake. "Hello, sleeping beauty."

"Yeah, right." She wanted to snort but settled on a weak glare. "You went home?"

Castle did snort this time and looked at her as if she was crazy. "Yes. I left my partner and best friend, my sick best friend, alone at home because I have a death wish coming under the form of a New York's finest medical examiner. No, Alexis brought it for me with a bunch of other stuff."

"Alexis came here?" Kate frowned, suddenly feeling underdressed and self conscious. Her eyes snapped back to the writer when she felt his hand on hers, his thumb stroking it softly. "She was worried when mother told her you were sick so she wanted to come. Do we really need to have the 'Alexis loves you' talk?"

"No." She groused, having been chastised enough already. "I just...I didn't even hear her."

"You, my dear detective, have slept through Alexis coming and going, Lanie, Ryan and Gates calling, and Esposito stopping by as well." Castle told her with a smirk but his eyes were kind, unteasing.

"Huh."

"Huh indeed. So, are you hungry now?"

Kate thought for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, I think I could eat a little."

Castle's smile was so bright it made the woman blushed. "It's just soup, Castle, don't need to pull a muscle about it."

"Lanie said you haven't eaten anything in two days, and now you want soup. I will pull a muscle if I want to. Although I'm not sure what are your intentions are about this while muscle pulling thing."

This time Kate choked on her sip of water and turned beet red, her eyes widening as the man leaned on her. "Two can play this game, Katherine."

Castle left a stunned Kate as he left the room to get her soup, stopping in his tracks when peals of laughter from the woman reached his ears.

His smile could've lit the whole apartment.

* * *

><p>'Got it yet?'<p>

The text from Kate came as he was finishing up breakfast for his daughter. Staring at the words curiously a few moments, Castle purposefully trotted to the front door and immediately saw the huge travel mug on his rug. Knowing Beckett couldn't have been the one to left it there, he took it and beamed as he read Kate's familiar scrawl on the lid and cup. There were 'thank you's' and 'thanks' written all over it, as well as several '60's.

Castle's phone vibrated in his hand again and smiled as he read the woman's new text message. 'Homemade coffee this morning, sorry. Still counts? Blame Espo if it's cold.'

Cold or not, he was not going to blame Esposito. As he stared at the mug, Castle came to an idea. The man poured the coffee in a cup and carefully washed the inside of the travel mug before putting it aside. He was going to have to find a clear plastic case, something to put the mug in because ne never wanted those words to disappear.

As he contemplated the travel mug while drinking the coffee Kate had made for him, something caught Castle's eye. It was small and near the top of the mug, but it was there.

A heart.

Kind of shaky and kind of asymmetric, as their current relationship was, but it was there.

Castle texted Kate back with shaky fingers. 'It so, SOOOO counts.'

Kate's eyes were bright when she read Castle's text. A smile lighted her tired features and, if she had been terrified of taking the next step, the rush of excitement she felt as she read the man's words had made it worth it.

"What's making you so giddy?" Kate looked up to see Lanie surveying her with a raised eyebrow.

Kate only smiled.


	5. Chapter 5

He was watching her again.

Beckett had tried to ignore it, but the man was getting less and less subtle about it. "Cut it out, Castle."

"What?"

"You know perfectly what. Stop watching me, it's creepy."

He thought better than answer that and Kate smirked, satisfied the writer's eyes were back on the tv. For now. She shook her head and went back to put the final touches on their iced coffees, a recipe she had perfected over the summer when she had been trapped in her father's cabin while she was recovering.

It had been a slow day at the precinct, and because the detective was still stuck on desk duty until her doctor gave her a clean bill of health, she had been able to leave the bullpen a little before three and had called Castle on her way back, inviting him over for dinner and a movie night.

She took a sip of her own coffee and, moaning in appreciation, took their glasses and brought them to the living room. "There, try this."

"Iced coffee, really?" Castle said dubiously as he watched the ice cubes float through the tall, frosty glass and the sturdy straw completing the cold beverage's presentation. "Isn't this against nature? You're always so finicky about your coffee having to be scalding, how can you even drink this?"

"Really, Castle? Finicky? You're the one who hooked me to espressos and vanilla lattes, and to scalding beverages." She reminded him pointedly and narrowed her eyes. "It's hot today so stop whining and try it."

"I'm not even sure this count as a coffee, by the way."

"It so does count," Kate reasoned back as she shot the man a look. "It's a coffee, and it's homemade so it should count double, if you want my opinion."

"Yes, but I don't know," he mused, observing the glass intently. "It misses something."

Kate eyed him suspiciously but he could see she was genuinely concerned about having forgetting something. "What?"

"You didn't draw any heart on that one."

Kate choked on her coffee and spilled part of it on her shirt, pants as well as on the floor. "Castle!"

She glared and was up before he had time to make another joke, heading to her bedroom to change, mumbling under her breath about needing to do laundry again because of him.

When she came back into the living room Castle was on his knees, cleaning up the mess she had accidentally made. "You didn't have to do that, you know."

"Yes, so you can scowl at me all night because I let you clean up a mess _I _was responsible for?" He sighed dramatically and laughed when she tried to smack the back of his head but missed him. "Are you sure you still aren't sick? Your aim is way off, you know."

"Shut it, Rick," Kate glared but her eyes betrayed her amusement at the whole situation. After a week of bed rest, the woman was feeling much better and happily gone back to work even though Gates had stuck her on desk duty under further notice, "or I'm not making dinner and you'll have to starve to death."

"I'm already starving." He muttered good-naturedly and followed the woman into the kitchen, curious to watch her as she cooked. "What are you making?"

"Homemade pizza and a salad. That okay?" She asked him, her head already in the fridge and pulling out ingredients. "I made the dough last night so it won't take too long to prepare."

"You make your own dough? And your own pizza?" Castle asked, impressed, drawing a faint blush from the detective. "Want any help?"

Kate glanced at him with a soft smile, pondering a few seconds before nodding and pointing to the small pile of fresh vegetables on the counter. "Chop these?"

They fell into a comfortable silence, sounds of chopping and mixing filling the apartment's warm air. Castle was almost done with the broccoli when he shed his shirt, the heat of the room getting to him. He frowned as he watched his partner work the dough, seemingly unbothered by the heat as she wore a white, thin cashmere turtleneck and grey yoga pants. He was about to comment on it when he heard her sigh and pulled back her sleeves. "Hey, Kate?"

"Yes?"

Kate turned to him when he didn't speak, her eyes wide and curious. "What is it, Castle?"

"It's just..." He began but faltered when he met her eyes. She was in a good mood, and he didn't want to ruin it because those moments didn't come by as often as before yet. She must have felt his hesitation because next thing he knew she was standing close to him and was watching him gently. "Like a band-aid, remember?"

Castle smiled at his own words and loving the way they rolled out of her mouth. "I just want you to know that, that you don't have to feel like you have to hide when it's just the two of us." He told her softly, biting back a sigh when she only looked at him in confusion.

"The turtleneck, aren't you hot with that?"

Kate's eyes narrowed in understanding as the nature of what Castle have been telling her dawned on her. She looked down at herself and clenched her jaw, but didn't say anything.

Castle saw her body tense and wished she wouldn't take everything so personally, so literally. "Kate, I-"

"What makes you believe that, Castle? Didn't occur to you that I may be cold for real? Haven't you been cold more often than before ever since we almost froze to death?"

"Um, yeah but-"

"Then what makes you think that I'm 'hiding'?" She turned to go back to the counter but a strong yet soft hand kept her in place. "Kate, please."

"Please, what?"

That tone of voice. Sharp, under laced with fear. It had been a while since he's heard it, or at least directed at him, but it was back full force now. "That excuse? It stopped working months ago. I know you think people probably didn't notice, but I did."

Kate remained silent but her eyes betrayed her anxiety as the man read her like an open book. "You still wear regular shirts from time to time, but it's mostly loose fitting turtlenecks and high neck tops now. And I have a feeling that you wear them not to hide from the others, but from yourself and believe me when I tell you that you don't have to do that."

The detective's face fell as Castle's words hit her and she stood there, taken aback.

Castle suddenly thought back of the first time they met, the first time he ever hurt her. The memory of his arrogant analysis of Kate Beckett's life and as to why she had become a cop jumped to mind in that exact moment because she was staring at him the same way she had then: her eyes dark and veiled by tears threatening to fall, her lips pursed and her body swaying lightly under the weight of the truth the man had just sprung on her.

Castle had promised himself he'd never hurt her like that again, and yet he had just did. "Kate..."

"Is it that obvious?"

The whispered words took him by surprise and, from the look on Kate's face, she hadn't meant to voiced them out loud.

"I don't think so but again, I am not like the others." Castle joked but his next words died in his throat when he saw the glint in the woman's eyes and he marvelled how, in the afternoon light, they seemed to be shifting from their usual sienna shade to an almost pure green. "Beautiful..."

"What?" Her eyes were nervous again.

"Your eyes, the way they turn green under a certain light. They're beautiful." He ushered softly, a grin on his lips.

Kate forgot what she was about to say, rendered speechless. Her mother used to tell her the same thing growing up, but no one ever seemed to have noticed. "No, you're not."

"Huh?" Castle stared blankly, utterly confused by the sudden turn of discussion.

Kate frowned when she realized that her words didn't make any sense. "What you said before, I mean...you're right. You're not like the others."

"Should I take this as a compliment or as a subtly veiled insult?"

"You decide, _Ricky_." Kate smirked as she went back to their dinner preparation, only to be stopped by the man again. "What if I decide to take it as a compliment?"

Kate held his gaze, hating that her instincts were telling her to flee. She was tired to run. She was tired to let her mind dictate her life and feelings. "It was meant to be."

Castle smiled, knowing just how much effort it took the detective for that simple admission, because she never said anything unless she meant it completely. He was proud of her for opening up, but he still wasn't ready to give up on the previous subject that easily.

He let her shift back to the counter, giving them a few seconds before he could find his voice again when he felt it. Castle was still holding her right wrist and he glanced down as he felt a small bump on the woman's skin. "Kate?"

Kate had forgotten about the deep gash she had accidentally inflicted herself during her last freak out. She pulled her arm free but Castle was inching on her and grabbed it again before she could hide it. "What happened to you?"

"It's nothing, Castle, I broke a glass and tripped when I was cleaning it up, it's no big deal."

"When did it happen? It still looks fairly recent."

Kate sighed at the man's insistence. This was supposed to be a good day, a quiet and easy day but it had just been thrown to hell because she had put on a damn turtleneck instead of the t-shirt she had first picked out. "I don't know, couple of weeks ago."

Her tone was meant to be casual and dismissive but the frown that appeared on the writer's face was not a good sign. Kate could see the wheels spinning in his head as he counted back the last weeks, trying to figure out where she could've hurt herself without him knowing.

His face darkened when he looked at her and Kate would've taken a step back if he wasn't still holding her wrist. His eyes were pained and worried and the way he was staring at her suddenly made her feel awful about herself. "Castle, I-"

"Does it have something to do with the sniper case?"

"Yeah." There was no point in lying anymore, not if she wanted him to stay. "It really was an accident, Castle, I promise."

There was relief in his eyes, but his gaze on her was still so intense that she found herself revealing the true story, something she had told herself would never happen. "I, I had too much to drink one night and I thought someone was shooting at my building. I broke a glass when I fell and I cut my arm when I fell on it."

She hoped he would see that the truth wasn't far off what she had told him before and, by the soft squeeze of her wrist, she knew he did. But he wasn't done yet. "What night?"

"The day I snapped at you and bailed in the middle of the debriefing?"

Castle nodded but his eyes were still clouded. Releasing her, his gaze scanned the kitchen, discreetly looking for something. It didn't take long before Kate guessed what he was looking for. "You won't find anything. I threw out every bottle I had left and I've only been drinking at your place or at the bar ever since."

Now that she was mentioning it, she hadn't been drinking as much lately, only a glass of wine here and there. Glancing at her wrist again and noticing a few other much fainter lines, Castle sighed. "Were you hurt somewhere else?"

"What do you mean?"

"You fell on glass, and I can see other scratches on your arm, did you hurt yourself elsewhere, like your other arm or side, or your leg?"

The slight widening of her eyes was enough of an answer for him. "Where?"

"Castle-"

"Kate, please. Would you let me get away with not making sure you were alright if it was me?" Castle challenged.

"I am fine."

"No, you're not. You're better, but you still aren't fine." A staring contest began, although Kate was more glaring openly than anything. This could go on forever, Castle thought, so the man resorted to the big guns. "Did you mean it? The heart?"

The anger in the detective's faded some, leaving its place for shock. "What?"

"Did you mean the heart you drew on my coffee cup last week?"

A short hesitation. "Yes."

"Good," Castle beamed inwardly. "You know, that heart opened up a door between us, or at least I thought it did. Why is this so hard, Kate? Hell, you practically undressed in front of me last week, and now you can't even let me see from my own eyes that you are fine? Is it because it's on a naughty area?"

"No." Kate rolled her eyes. "How come you didn't see this anyway?" She asked him as she shook her still held wrist. "I was pretty much in an 'all you can see' kind of situation then. Why didn't you take advantage of it so we could've avoided all of this?"

"Is that what it was? Because I didn't know and I hope you realize that I would never take advantage of you that way, or in any way for that matter."

The hurt was back in the writer's eyes and it was her fault, Kate frowned with a pang to the heart. She wanted to tell him she was sorry, that it wasn't what she meant, but she was stuck. Instead of the heartfelt apology that was burning her tongue, the detective would have slapped herself when the stupidest words she could think of came out. "You didn't look?"

"I was trying really hard not to," The man admitted with a gentle grin, "Knowing that you trusted me to let me take care of you was enough."

"Oh."

Castle smiled and took a sip of his coffee, letting the subject go for now. Pushing further would most possibly end up with them fighting and that was the last thing the man wanted. Besides, what he said had been enough to give the woman something to think about. "Mmm, you were right, this is very good. Did you put nutmeg in it?"

Kate stared at him, not exactly sure what had just happened. "Um, yeah."

"Good. Are these enough or do you need more?" He asked, pointing at the chopped veggies on the counter. "Kate?"

The detective was still staring, her mouth slightly open and her eyes unblinking. "Um. No, that's enough, thanks. Grate the cheese?"

Castle agreed easily and pulled out a various selection of cheeses out of the fridge. "You know, I don't think I've ever seen so much food in your fridge that isn't old takeout."

Kate opened her mouth to ask what the hell was going on, but quickly thought better of it. He was distracting her on purpose and he knew that she knew what he was doing. Silently agreeing to the temporary truce, she grabbed her own coffee and drank half of it while she watched Castle cut slices of mozzarella. "I do cook, you know? I just don't usually have the time."

"Lanie forced you to go grocery shopping?"

"I gave her the money and the content of my fridge is the result of _her _shopping spree." She ignored the man's smirk as put her now empty glass and went to the fridge, fishing out a jar of what looked to be tomato sauce. "I can't let any of it go to waste so I've been cooking every night ever since."

"You know, if you want to and if you're in search of ideas of what recipes to try, I'm sure Alexis would be more than pleased to come over and help you."

Kate looked pleased by the idea but a frown quickly chased her smile away. "I don't know, Castle, I don't think she'd be as thrilled as you think she could be."

"Why? Is there something going that I don't know about?" Castle frowned as he noticed once again that whenever they approached the subject of his daughter, the detective had become more and more evasive and nervous.

"No, it's just, forget about it, it's nothing."

"Oh, like the kind of nothing your wrist is?"

"No, it's just, are we talking about this again? Seriously?"

Castle put the knife on the cutting board and turned to face Beckett, who was glaring again. "No. I was just wondering what could have happened for you to become so nervous around Alexis. Is this about the bank incident?"

"You know about that?" Kate asked, surprised.

"She told me that night, after you left. She was feeling pretty bad for having yelled and threatened you like she did. You should've told me, you know?"

"It was between me and her," Beckett replied, "and we talked about it some when she was sick. She apologized and everything, but I think it's better if I give her some space for now."

Castle scoffed, amused. "She's already got all the space she needs. Just tell her you'll make more of that green tea you gave her last time and she'll come running. She likes you Kate, and that way if you get sick of me hanging around you'd have someone else to talk to."

"Your daughter. Another Castle."

"Well she's a Rodgers, technically." He said with a smile. "You could always do the 'I owe you' bit we have going on with her, I'm sure you could find a way to make it work between you guys."

Kate stared a moment before her pursed lips turned into a surprisingly soft smile. "Nope. That's for us only. I'll come up with something else. So, ready to make the pizza?"

Castle responded by an even brighter smile and kissed her on the cheek before nudging her out of the way. "Why don't I make the pizza while you text you're not-so-little redheaded friend and make us more of that coffee?"

Kate knew she was blushing even if she couldn't see her face. "Um, yeah, okay." She stammered as she went back to the living room briefly to grab her phone. She scrolled down to her list of contacts and pressed Alexis cell phone number, typing in a quick message. ''_Hey Alexis, how are you? I was wondering if you'd like to come over a night this week to help me cook?'_

She left the tea out of the message since she didn't want to look like she was bribing the teenager, and began to brew more coffee, at the writer's demand. She still had some left in the fridge but she loved to always have some prepared. "What did you ask her?"

"This is none of your business, writer boy." She smiled at him just as her phone beeped. The response had come faster than she had expected. She shot Castle a brief look before reading it, secretly enjoying seeing the man so focused at his job of forming some sort of design on the pizza with slices of mushroom.

Castle was watching from the corner of his eye and squealed internally when he saw a smile lit up the woman's face as she read the girl's text. '_Make that tea of yours and we have a deal. JK. I'd love to. When? I can bring recipe books! :P'_

"And?"

"She wants to," Kate smiled as she typed back a short answer but was interrupted when her phone rang. "Hey, Alexis, I was just texting you back. No, it's just your dad and I. Yeah, I know."

She chuckled at something the teenager said and by the way she rolled her eyes, Castle knew they were talking about him. He remained silent though because he loved the woman's relaxed features too much at the moment to ruin it with one of his jokes.

He took his time finish the pizza as Kate walked around the kitchen, peeking in the fridge and the cupboards a couple of times, either agreeing or denying the girl's requests over the phone.

Castle turned around swiftly when a gentle hand brushed against his arm and found himself staring at a newly filled glass of deliciously iced coffee. "Thank you."

Kate grinned in response and went back to her conversation with Alexis. "Sure, if you want I can pick you up at school tomorrow? No Alexis, I won't be too tired. Yes, uh huh. Okay, see you tomorrow, bye."

"Looks like you'll be on your own tomorrow night, Castle, I- what?"

"Nothing." Castle was staring at her with an odd expression on his face. The man quickly glanced away before he blurted out the three words he was sure would freak the hell out of the detective. "Pizza's done."

Kate walked closer and couldn't suppress a laugh. "Really, Castle? A Darth Vader made out of mushrooms?"

"Don't forget the green pepper-shaped Yoda."

The movie was almost done when Castle quietly took the remote between them and pressed the stop button. "Mmm...what are you doing?"

"You're tired, I'm going to head home."

"But the movie isn't finished yet." Kate mumbled as she pushed herself straighter, blinking repeatedly to wake up more fully.

Castle smiled and squeezed her knee as he got up, stretching comically in front of the tv. "You still need all the sleep you can get, and sleeping in an awkward position on the couch will not contribute to that. Besides, isn't Lanie coming in the morning?"

Damn. "Yeah. Fine, but we'll finish it next time?"

"Of course." Castle promised her as she got up and followed him to the door. "You okay? I can stay and make myself scarce before Lanie shows up if you don't want her give to you the third degree."

"No, it's not..." Kate hesitated before she seemingly came to a decision. "Wait a second?"

She left before Castle had time to agree, knowing he would be too curious to leave before she was back. He heard her rummaging through the fridge and the kitchen briefly, the soft padding of her bare feet on the wooden floors indicating her coming back, a wine gift bag in hand.

Castle looked at her curiously, his eyebrows rising when she took his hand and pulled him to the bathroom.

The man absently noted that the room smelled like cherries as Kate put the bag on the counter and faced him restlessly. "Kate, what is it?"

Getting nervous when she didn't answer, Castle watched patiently as the detective had a silent argument with herself before she stood straighter and set her jaw decidedly. "Don't get any funny ideas."

"Why would I get ideas..." Castle lost his ability to talk when Kate's hands went to her pants and slowly pushed the left side down her hip until it revealed two faded scratches. They weren't as deep as the gash on her wrist and had faded a lot already. "See? I am fine, promise."

Kate hid them again before the temptation of putting his hands on her would become too hard to resist for the writer, because if he did she wasn't sure she'd be able to push him away. "You'll see them, for real this time," She added when she saw the look in his eyes, "I promise you, but not tonight I, I can't, okay?"

Castle only nodded. A promise was enough. "The bag?"

"Only open it once you're home."

Castle kept his promise but his hands had itched all the way home to open the gift. The quietness of the apartment greeted him so he took his time kicking off his shoes and jacket before gliding into the kitchen. A giddy smile warmed his features as he saw the pile of cook books on the counter, several post-it notes sticking out of them.

His tired gazed shifted from the books to the bag, a shiver of childish excitement coursing through his veins as he tore the paper out of the bag and peeked inside.

He pulled out the glass bottle with a frown and chuckled. The tall translucent bottle was still icy to the touch and he smiled upon seeing it filled with the same iced coffee they had been drinking all afternoon. Small numbers were written across the length of the bottle, counting down the remaining coffees, the number '54' neatly drawn near the bottom of the bottle.

The last number wasn't what was peeked the writer's attention though. It was the multitude of random numbers, ranging from one to a hundred. On a hunch he turned the bottle upside down, remembering the last stunt the woman had pulled on him. Instead of a number though, was a simple question. _Are we really counting anymore?_


	6. Chapter 6

"Have anyone seen Beckett?" Castle asked as he glanced around the bullpen, not seeing the detective anywhere. "Hey, Ryan? Where's Beckett?"

"Oh, I don't know," the detective frowned as he glanced at his watch, "she texted me to say she would only come in the afternoon, why? She didn't call you?"

"No." Castle had found a still steaming cup of coffee waiting for him on is front step when he had come up earlier, but there was only a note on it from Beckett telling that she'd see him later. "I texted and called her but there was no response."

"I'm sure it's nothing since she obviously gave you your coffee and texted me to inform me she'd be late."

"Who's going to be late?" Esposito asked as he came out of the break room with a cup of coffee in his hand. "Hey, Castle."

Ryan shot Esposito a look before sitting at his desk with a pile of files. "Beckett."

"Oh. She said she'd be late. She didn't say why, bro. Hey, what are you even doing here?" The Latino detective suddenly stared at the writer curiously. "Don't you have a bunch of interviews and a photo shoot to go through today?"

Castle cringed and nodded tersely. "Yeah, they want to promote the release of Heat Wave and get the inside scoop on the next Heat book. I was on my way but I wanted to see Kate before I went."

"Sorry, bro, she'll be in later. If you want I'll tell her to call you." Esposito offered his friend and sending a friendly smile as he left. "Dude, do you think he knows?"

Esposito smirked at his partner as he took place at his desk as well. "Not a chance, otherwise he wouldn't be dragging his feet so much to get there."

"Okay, just one more...great, perfect. Thank you, detective, if you want to take a break Stephanie will show you to the break room."

Kate nodded and quietly followed the young intern, ignoring the stares and leers she got as she walked through the hallways of the building. It took them a few minutes to get to the lounge, the short, blonde intern keeping asking random questions that were answered politely but shortly. "There you go, Miss Beckett. I will come and get you for your last changing before Mister Castle gets here."

"Thanks." Beckett counted to five after the door closed before she slumped in one of the red, overstuffed chair of the room and kicked out her five inch golden pumps off her feet.

She released a relived moan as she flexed her feet and curled up her toes repeatedly to bring back the blood circulation in them faster. As gorgeous as the shoes may be, they had been designed to kill women's feet.

Kate looked down at herself and, curious, jumped back on her feet to take a look at herself in the mirror. They had only let her glance briefly at her makeup before taking her for one last photo shoot so she didn't have a chance to take a look at the full effect. "Huh."

The white, skinny slacks they had asked her to wear made her legs seem even longer than ever and hugged every...part of her, making her chuckle; she had gotten dozens of stares because of those pants, but she knew that one man in particular wouldn't stare as much as gawk when he'd see them.

She had refused to wear the first two tops they had presented her because the first one was too slutty for her own taste, and the second one was plunging so low she was worried it may show her scar. Not that they wouldn't have loved that; Gina had said that it would have made her look even more human, closer to the average person if they got to see it a bit, that people loved to hear stories of survivors.

One death glare and a veiled 'no' later, the publicist had backed down in a hurry and let her decide what she wanted to wear. Kate and Ben, the stylist, had agreed that an outfit that didn't scream _police_ would be enough to get the readers that feeling, hence the soft lavender shirt. It was short sleeved, hung on her left shoulder and the loose collar was still high enough to prevent any accidental showing of anything she didn't want people to see.

Topped with perfectly curled golden hair and a smokey makeup that made her eyes even brighter than usual, Kate looked more like a movie star than a homicide detective, but it was surprisingly fine by her. They already had taken quite several pictures of her in outfits that would send any criminal run for cover.

Kate couldn't repress a sigh as she stared at herself. For the first time in months, she really felt like herself; the talent of one nameless makeup artist had magically made disappeared her ever present dark circles under her eyes, and her cheeks didn't seem as hollow anymore.

The random thought that she could be like that again eventually if she could just let people in to help her take some of the constant weight off her shoulders, especially if she could finally bring herself to let one specific man in. The thought alone sent her shaking in the knees.

If their coffee deal had helped the detective loosen up into accepting her feelings for Castle, she still couldn't take the one step that would really show him as much she cared and loved him.

Kate rolled her eyes at herself as she sighed. She couldn't loosen up enough to give in the temptation of kissing the writer, but she had willingly agree to an interview and a photo shoot with Gina, Black Pawn and a highly praised magazine to surprise Castle.

The man's ex-wife had proposed a follow-up interview from the last one she did three years ago to commemorate the big coming out of Heat Wave on the big screen and, if she had first refused, the thought of a shell-shocked Richard Castle when he'd see her at the magazine studios had been enough to change her mind. That and the fact that she was tired of people telling her she looked better in person than in that dreadful Cosmo picture. It probably would be the other way around now, but she didn't care.

The other silver lining was, with the money that gig would give her, she could redo her whole wardrobe if she wanted to. Or remodel her apartment. Or make a down payment on a new one, bigger and closer to work. Closer to Castle's.

The interview had gone smoothly because Beckett had the sense to instate boundaries before agreeing to the deal. She had a right to deny answering any questions that she found too personal and her mother's case was off the table, as well as her shooting. Or most of it at least.

Looking back at the time on her phone Kate grinned somewhat nervously. Castle would be there soon. In the meantime, she settled back comfortably in the chair and read the man's numerous texts he had sent her, and began to respond to them one by one.

'_We'll see each other soon, Castle._'

Castle grunted at the woman's text. He wondered what she could have been doing in the past three hours for just answering him now. '_How soon?_'

'_Soon.'_

"Damn."

"Is everything okay, Mister Castle?" Stephanie asked him with a professional smile as she arrived behind him, having heard his frustrated sigh.

Castle turned and grinned politely and nodded. "Yes, of course. How are you?"

"She's fine, we're all fine." Gina's voice came from his left. "Hey, Rick."

"Gina." Castle greeted kindly. "So, let's get started? What do you want to do first, interviews or photos?" His cell phone kept vibrating in his pocket and the man got the impression Beckett was currently responding to every single one of his text messages, and his fingers were itching to answer them back again.

"Hello Gina, how are you, Gina? Me, I'm good, thanks for asking, by the way."

"You know how much I love doing this, Gina, so let's just get this over with, okay?"

"You mean you used to love doing this, until a certain someone came into the picture." Gina smirked knowingly, pleased by the scowl the writer shot her. "Leave her out of this."

"Why, she's your inspiration behind Nikki Heat. And I think we both know she's more than your inspiration now, Richard."

Castle looked around and put his hand to the publicist's shoulder, pushing her away from curious ears. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know what it means," Gina sighed, "and it may come as a shock to you, but I'm glad for you. She's a good person."

"How do you know that?" Castle asked her suspiciously, not knowing where she was going with this.

"A little bird told me. Come on, Richard, would you relax? I am genuinely happy for you, for whatever you two are. How would you say we'd start with the photos? We have a surprise for you." Gina smiled and took the writer's arm and led him to the studio on the top floor of the building.

Gina refused to give away what the surprise was, deflecting every question coming her way until they reached the photography studio, where the photographer was putting the last touches to the lighting while technicians were checking the stage's last details.

The room looked suspiciously like a fake crime scene, only smaller and without an actual body. "A crime scene? What is your angle here exactly?"

"Well, we thought it'd be interesting to see more "on the field" and we obviously couldn't use a real crime scene, so..."

"So what, I'm supposed to stand there and do what? Have you hired fake cops again?" Castle dreaded the response, hoping it wasn't the case. He didn't think he could stand being surrounded by bimbos when all he wanted to do was to read the messages his detective had sent him and go see her.

"Not exactly." Gina smiled brightly, as she pointed behind the man.

There wasn't a word to explain what Castle felt as he cautiously spun around to find Kate Beckett staring back at him, her eyes nervous but bright and a soft smirk on her lips. "Kate?"

Shock, excitement and anger were battling for dominance over the writer's features, anger quickly winning until the detective's voice was in his ear. He had been so surprised he didn't even notice her walking closer until they were almost touching. "I don't mind doing this so don't yell, okay?"

"You...you- you!"

"She accepted when I offered, I didn't twist her arm I promise, Richard. There were conditions to her participation, to which we happily obliged." Gina promptly told him when he looked like he was about to unload on her. "She made a pretty good deal, no wonders she's one of the best New York detective there is. She knows how to get what she wants."

Castle frowned but the woman's comment, oddly enough, seemed sincere. Now that the first shock had faded, he focused her gaze back on Kate, put his hands on her shoulders and gently pushed her one step back so he could take a good look at her. "Huh."

The detective was wearing tight, black jeans that left not much to the man's imagination, a high collared, deep purple satin shirt that hugged the woman's every curve like a second skin while black four inch stilettos completed the outfit, bringing her to his height. "That's all you have to say? Huh? I guess it's a good thing you haven't seen the other outfits then."

Castle gulped. "O-others?"

Kate smirked and glanced at the "scene". "They're really aren't trying to go for a real crime scene." She chuckled lightly.

Castle shot the photographer a look, who nodded so the writer guided his partner at the side of the scene and watched her curiously as she unconsciously analyzed every fake detail. "You know what's funny?" She asked after a few seconds, looking up at the man.

"No, what?"

"I've actually never seen any taped body silhouette on a crime scene before. That part only comes once my job is done there." Kate commented softly, her eyes suddenly serious. "What?"

Castle cast a look around, a frown in his face. "You really want to do this? Gina or Gates haven't forced you or anything because if they did I will talk to them."

"It may come as a bit of a shock, Castle, but it's actually been kind of fun. And have you ever seen me doing something I didn't want to?"

"They forced you to do the Cosmo interview back then." Castle reminded her before his eyes took an odd glint and he smirked. "You really wanted to get rid of that picture, don't you?"

"Billy is about to snap his arm off with the constant waving he's doing to get our attention." Kate replied with a smirk of her own as she grabbed Castle's bright red tie to drag him to the center of the scene.

It was late when Castle got home, his feet dragging and his coat slung over his shoulder. He had taken Beckett out to a late lunch at Remy's when they were finally done with the photo shoot and his interview before parting ways, the detective needing to fill up some paperwork before the day ended.

For once he hadn't insisted to stay so he could watch her from the corner of his eye while he played the newest game on his phone, instead going grocery shopping and running some errands.

Castle quickly put away the perishable items and left the rest on the counter. He could put the rest away later when he was done with something much more interesting.

The man had his hand in his pants pocket as soon as he entered his study, and pulled out a memory card out of his case the moment he was sitting in front of his laptop. After leaving Kate the man had went back to Black Pawn and after an animated discussion with Gina and the head publicist, the writer was back home with a copy of the day's photographs.

He stared at the card a moment, as if bracing himself for whatever was on it. He didn't doubt the artistic quality of what he would be seeing on it because Beckett never would have agreed to anything remotely shady or tacky, but he was still nervous.

With a sharp intake of breath he stuck the memory card in the slot and clicked on the first file.

He was still staring at the pictures of a Katherine Beckett he had never seen before when a soft voice tore his eyes away from the screen. "Alexis, hi. What did you say?"

"I asked what you were doing." Alexis repeated with a frown, stepping closer to her father cautiously. "You're staring, is everything okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine sweetie. Perfectly fine. I was just looking at some pictures Gina gave me."

Alexis grinned and her eyes lit up. "Oh, from today? Did they take good pictures? Let me see!"

Castle twisted his laptop sideways so his daughter could look as well. When the surprised gasp he expected didn't come, the writer forced his gaze away from the close-up shot of the detective he had been staring at for the past minutes to look at the teenager. "You don't seem surprised."

"It's because I am not." Alexis admitted with a sheepish grin as she sat on her father's knees to have a better look at the photos. "Kate called to ask me my opinion about whether she should do it or not. I guess she decided to. She's really beautiful on that one, she doesn't look like a cop at all."

"Yeah, she is." Castle agreed as he looked at the picture Alexis had clicked on. It was a shot of Beckett, sitting casually in an overstuffed black chair, her hair falling gracefully on her right shoulder, her eyes locked in a book in her hands and a small grin on her face. The man's heart twisted in his chest, wishing he would get to know more of that Beckett soon. "She's holding Heat Wave."

Alexis chuckled as she recognized the book as well. "Yeah. It's a good idea, don't you think? Really gives the whole Heat Wave frenzy a nice touch. Hey, don't you guys took pictures together?"

Castle's eyes widened; he had forgotten about them. "Yes, they must be in the other folder." He watched eagerly as the teenager went back to the card menu display and clicked on the other file. "They put you guys on a crime scene? Really?"

"I know, Kate said the same thing," Castle laughed as the photo shoot came back to him. "She kept pointing out every detail they had wrong and when someone mentioned to her that they had put clues together that we had to solve in order to figure out who was murdered and by whom, she had the fake killer down in about a minute."

"Cool. Oh, wow."

"What?" Castle turned to look at the picture and smiled broadly. Alexis had stumbled upon a photograph that must have been taken somewhere around the end of the shooting, because at that point neither him nor Kate were paying any attention to the photographer anymore.

Castle remembered the moment clearly; Kate was getting tired but was refusing to admit it, so the writer had texted Gina while the detective had her back turned. Kate's surprise when an intern appeared less than two minutes later holding two tall cups of coffee had been priceless, but the grateful grin she had graced Castle with had somehow been caught by the photographer.

On the picture Kate was leaning into him because Castle had teased her about having gulped down half the cup in a matter of seconds. The detective was clutching her coffee in one hand while the other was pressed against Castle's chest, and her fingers were tightened around his tie. He could still feel her breath against his ear when she had whispered words he couldn't even remember now. The glint in her eyes and her lips so close to his skin had rendered him so speechless that it was only when he studied the picture more closely that he saw his hand on her waist. Huh.

"I still can't believe she willingly jumped into the hyena's den for me." He murmured stunningly as he watched the slideshow Alexis had put on of all the images.

"Does that really surprise you, dad?" Alexis swivelled to face her dad, her eyes soft but chiding. "It kind of took me some time to realize it, but she really cares about you, you know."

"She knows how important all of _this_ is, your whole career is based on the books' success and she knows she is part of them, so she wanted to do her share too." Alexis said kindly before pausing the slideshow. "I'm going out with Julie, I'll be back around ten."

Castle glanced once more at the picture on the screen and wondered if his daughter was right. On a whim, he grabbed his cell phone and texted the woman. "_Thank you for today, Kate, I really appreciated it._"

The response came back really quickly. "_My pleasure, Castle. It was actually kind of fun, especially the part where I got to boss Gina around._"

Castle laughed at loud, knowing his ex-wife and publicist didn't have as much fun as being the detective's occasional lackey for the day. "_By the way, the coffee I got you? It resets your countdown from 49 to 50._"

*_glares._* The phone pinged and the writer shook his head in amusement, his fingers already typing back a response when it vibrated again. "_Don't shake your head! Fine, as you wish. Ricky. See you tomorrow."_

"_Oh, and by the way, enjoy those pictures you begged Gina about :P_"

Castle's eyes widened and he dropped his phone on his desk. He quickly scanned the room and jumped when his phone pinged again. "_Ha! Made you look!_"

* * *

><p>As usual, a big thank you to everyone who's reviewed, favorited...it really makes my day! It may seem like I'm going off track from the coffee deal, but no worries, I just needed Kate to realize a few things before they can move even further. If you guys have any requests or suggestions, I'm open to ideas! :)<p> 


	7. Chapter 7

A shift in Richard Castle's room slowly tore the man out of the deep sleep he was in. Despite having his eyes closed he knew it was still dark out, but just barely. He wondered what exactly could have had woke him up after...less than three hours of sleep, he groaned after glancing at the alarm clock.

The man had gone to bed late the night before, busy outlining his next Heat book until the wee hours of the morning so he had planned to sleep in for once. Until something decided to wake him up at 6:25 a.m.

As Castle woke more fully it came to him that it wasn't much of a shift than a mix of smells that had brought him back to consciousness. The smell of coffee was filling the room and, as he wondered absently why the smell was coming from his bedroom and not the rest of the loft, another smell tickled his nose. Cherries.

'Cherries?' Castle abruptly sat in his bed, startling another form sitting on the edge of his bed, her slender features still perfectly recognizable in the early morning shadows. "Beckett?"

"Hey, Castle." Kate greeted him with a small smile and Castle chuckled at the shyness emanating from the woman. He could have bet that she would have waved at him if her hands weren't currently busy holding two cups of coffee. "Sorry to wake you. Did you have a late night?"

"Um. Ah. I...you're here."

"Yes."

"You're here, sitting in my bed at...6:28 in the morning, holding coffees. You're here."

Kate rolled her eyes as she shoved one of the coffees in the writer's hand. "Jeez, Rick, if that's how you react when I'm just sitting here, how will it be when we-"

Castle choked on his coffee and Kate snapped her mouth shut, her eyes wide and a deep blush coloring her cheeks. "When we what?"

Kate glared and shook her head, a small smirk on her lips. "You okay there, Castle?"

"I'm fine," he reassured her as he got the coughing under control. "When we what?"

"Get your head out of the gutter, Castle."

Castle met the detective's stare, changing tactics. "Okay, what are you doing here at this hour, sitting on my bed, holding coffees? How did you get in?"

The blush on Kate's cheeks spread to her neck but, to her credit, she didn't shy away from the writer's bright gaze. "You gave me a key, remember?"

"Ahhh, yes I did. Glad to see you didn't throw it away." He teased her, enjoying the moment so much he forgot about the crying lack of sleep that would come back and bite him in the butt later.

"You know I didn't."

"I know. So, what brings you here? Are you okay?" It didn't take him long to see that something was bothering the woman, judging by the way she was holding herself stiffly. Castle also noticed, as he watched her closely, that her eyes were slightly red and puffy, and that she had dark circles under her eyes.

Kate looked away, glancing from her own coffee to the writer's hands, anywhere but at his mussed hair and sleepy features. Or to his naked chest. "I...I'm going away. For the weekend. I should be back Sunday night or Monday morning."

"For the weekend? Kate, today's Thursday. What's going on?"

Castle was surprised when sad eyes were suddenly on him. "My dad and I, we always go to the cabin for a couple of days at this time of year. For my mom's birthday."

"For the last eight years, we go and spend her birthday up at the cabin. We go to the cemetery to put flowers on her tombstone, and then we spend the day together, or the weekend depending of which day her birthday is that year. We don't do anything special once we're up there, because the most important thing was to be there together."

"Except this year," Kate whispered as she blinked back tears, Rhonda happened."

Castle put his coffee aside and leaned closer to the upset woman, freeing one of her hand to hold it in his. "Girlfriend?"

"Yeah. When we talked last night he said he wanted to go, but that he had been given a second chance with her and that maybe it was time to make new memories, for him as well as for me."

"Kate-"

"It's fine, really. I already cleared it with Gates, but I wanted to tell you in person. And to give you your coffee. I just need some time to clear my head."

Giving up his inner battle for respecting Kate's space, Castle climbed over the covers and swiftly moved next to her and wrapped his arms tightly around her. He didn't say anything and just held her close, oddly proud when she leaned into him and accepted his embrace.

Castle basked in the moment, until the feel of her clothes against his skin suddenly made him realized what she was wearing. "Um, Kate? Are you wearing leather?"

"I don't know, maybe." She smirked but Castle saw she used the distraction to wipe her eyes and pull away. "You're only noticing now? I'm shocked, Ricky." She made a point to ignore how good it had felt to be in the man's arms, especially in his current state of undress.

"Um." Castle let his eyes roam over the detective's graceful form. The black leather pants she was wearing were as tight as if they were a second skin on her legs and hips, while the moss green woollen sweater hugged her form pleasantly and brought out flickers of emerald in her eyes. The outfit was completed by a softly padded leather jacket and a white, soft looking checkered scarf. She looked..."I-"

"I was more preoccupied with the fact that you were in my room, sitting on my bed and watching me sleep. "Wait, leather? Does that mean you're taking your motorcycle? Is that why you're leaving so early?"

Castle jumped out of bed so quickly he almost made Kate fall out of bed. He ran to the closet and began pulling out clothes, under the detective's confused look. "What are you doing, Castle?"

"I want to see your bike. No, scratch that. I want to see _you_ straddling your Harley. This is going to be the best day ever." Castle practically giggled, getting dressed in a matter of seconds under the detective's glare, although the effect was dimmed by the amused smile she was sporting.

* * *

><p>"You have everything?"<p>

"Yes, Castle. I'm a grown woman, I know how to pack." She rolled her eyes at him playfully, secretly enjoying the way he was gawking at her. Turned out she didn't even have to be straddling the ebony, sleeky soft tail Harley to have the man drooling. Just standing next to it while revealing just exactly her leathers pants were tight were enough to send Castle into a stammering mess.

"Did you pack food?"

"There's a grocery store right on the edge of the town, I don't need to bring food. I'm on a motorcycle, not in a pick-up."

"Still, isn't that bag too big?" Castle looked uncertain. The bag pack the woman had just pulled up on her shoulders seemed heavy, food or not in it, and the straps were tight against her ribs. "It won't hurt your scar?"

Kate stopped smirking and put her hands on the writer's shoulders, a genuine grin gracing her lips. "I'm fine, Castle, I promise. It's not as heavy as it seems."

Castle nodded but reached behind the woman to grab the bag's handle and lift it curiously, Kate rolling her eyes but humoring him nonetheless. "Satisfied now?"

"Yes. You'll call when you get there?"

"It might be a text, but yeah, I'll let you know." Kate answered patiently as she put her helmet on. "What?"

"Is that a new helmet? The one you normally have with you at the precinct isn't as bulky or closed up around your face."

Kate shook her head, the weight of the helmet slowing her movements down a little, and fished in her pockets to find her gloves as she shot Castle an amused look. "It's too cold out for the other one, I don't want my face to freeze."

Castle smiled appreciatively at the shiny black and silver racing helmet and grabbed the lower part covering the detective's chin to bring her closer. Not expecting the sudden pull, Kate stumbled on her feet and crashed against Castle's chest. "Jeez, Castle!"

"Sorry, I always wanted to do that." He grinned widely before engulfing the woman into another hug. It was kind of awkward because of the helmet and the bag pack, but neither of them seemed to complain. Castle's smile brightened against the cold helmet as Kate hugged him back tightly. "Be careful, okay?"

"Always."

"See you Monday?" Castle asked softly, his eyes searching Kate's.

"See you Monday." She echoed with a nod as she mounted her bike and adjusted her bag when Castle's voice made her turn to him. The 'click' of his cell phone going off had her glaring at him, the man not caring as he seemed so happy to finally have a picture of her on her motorcycle. "Happy now?"

"Oh, so tremendously happy. Really, detective, you have no idea."

Something flashed in Kate's eyes but it was gone so fast Castle couldn't tell for sure for it had been. His thoughts were drowned when the bike's engine turned to life, startling him as it roared in the quiet street. "Don't forget to call."

"I will, bye Rick."

He watched her go, his mind spinning with so many fantasies about both Kate and Nikki Heat, but mostly Kate that it took him several minutes of staring into space before he realized that his phone had died in his hand. "Crap!"

* * *

><p>Alexis was in the kitchen having breakfast when Castle barged in and aimed for his study without even seeing her. "Dad?"<p>

"Dad, what are you doing up at this hour?"

"Had an unexpected early start, sweetheart." Castle sighed in relief when he found the usb cord, plugging his phone to his laptop, grinning at the little battery sign told him it was now charging. "Ready to go to school?"

"Almost. What kind of early start?" Alexis was looking at him dubiously. Her father was far too chipper for this time of the morning.

"Kate stopped by. She's going away for the weekend so she stopped before leaving."

The teenager frowned at the sudden news. "For the weekend? We're Thursday."

"I know, sweetie. She has some things to deal with and she needed time away."

Castle looked up from his phone at found himself staring at bright, inquisitive eyes. "Is she okay?"

"Kind of. It's her mother's birthday this weekend and she and her father usually spend it together at their cabin, but Jim decided that it was time to make new memories, so he's staying with his new friend instead."

"Oh. So she's going to be spending several days in the woods, alone and upset?" Alexis blurted out, her eyes sullen as she met her father's eyes. "What are you going to do?"

"Already ahead of you, kiddo."

* * *

><p>The ride had been longer than he had thought because of traffic, and Castle exhaled in relief when the small cabin belonging to Kate's father came into view. It was a few minutes short of ten in the morning, so he knew the detective would still be around.<p>

True to her words Kate had called him the day before once she had gotten there, and even texted him once or twice during the evening.

Castle had given her the day so she'd have space and have some time alone, but he had gotten up at four on Friday morning, grabbed an overnight bag and drove outside of town to spend the remaining of the weekend with the woman he loved.

Kate didn't know he was coming and, if he didn't have a clear picture of how she would react once he got there, he doubted she'd send him back home.

There was no sign of life around the house when Castle climbed the steps and stopped in front of the front door, suddenly nervous. He raised his hand and was about to knock when the door opened before him, making him jump. "Castle?"

"Hey."

There was surprise in the detective's eyes but, as Castle suspected, there was also relief. Gratitude. "What are you doing here?"

"What do you think?"

Kate rolled her eyes and let him in, closing and locking the door behind him. "Would you like a cup of coffee?"

"Sure."

Castle let his eyes wander around the small room, immediately loving the homey feel of it. The wooden walls, mismatched furniture and numerous bookshelves reminded him if the detective's apartment; it was small but cozy, and the wood burning in the fireplace warmed the place pleasantly. "There you go."

"Thanks." Castle said as he followed Kate to the couch and both took place on the same one, not sitting next to her but still close enough if she needed him. "How did you sleep last night?"

"Not too bad, actually. The peace and quiet felt nice even if it threatened to drive me a little crazy." Kate shrugged as she took a sip of her coffee, bringing her legs up on the couch and twisted sideways so she could face Castle on the opposite end.

The writer smiled at the movement but his eyes were watching his friend to see how she was holding up. He decided she seemed tired and more withdrawn then usual but he was relieved to see that it didn't look like she had spent the night alone, crying. "How did you manage to spend two months here anyway? You never seemed to be a camping and hiking kind of girl."

"Wow. You know, now I'm really curious to see what your house in the Hamptons look like because if you qualify this as camping, we need to show you what camping in the woods really is like." Kate snorted, knowing Castle was yanking her chain, but suspicious about what to expect exactly now that she had opened the door to a whole other discussion. More than one, in fact.

"You know you are welcome to visit my Hamptons house whenever you want, Kate."

Kate had expected a cruder comeback, or at least a sassier tone from the man, but his voice was soft and gentle, genuine. It only threw her off even more than his surprise visit. "Yeah, because that worked out so well last time." She blurted out, her eyes widening at what she had just said. "Anyway, it's not like I had a choice into spending the summer here, Castle. My dad didn't want me to stay in New York for a while."

"What do you mean, last time?" Castle inched closer, his eyes on hers and refusing to let her look away. "The only time I ever asked you, you already had plans with Demming."

Kate raised her eyes to stare at the ceiling, mad at herself for opening that particular can of worms. She had the firm intent of never talked about that summer ever again, but there was no way Castle would back down now. Not when he knew that there was something more to the story. Their story. "Remember when I pulled you aside to talk that summer?"

"I, I was going to accept to go with you. I had broken up with Will earlier."

"What?" Castle's mind was reeling, almost wishing he hadn't heard right. Wishing he hadn't inadvertently ditched Beckett from a possible romantic weekend at the beach to mope and argue with this ex-wife. "Why didn't you tell me? I mean, after?"

"Right," Kate scoffed, "like I was going to tell you that with Gina there? Not with the way she was staring me down. She didn't even let you hug me goodbye."

"Kate..."

"No, it's fine. It was years ago and the timing wasn't right."

Castle pursed his lips to keep his next words from spilling out. "I guess know I know more how you must have felt." Maybe he hadn't closed his mouth hard enough.

"What?"

"This summer, Kate." He reminded her, the immediate guilty look the detective took making him frown. "I'm not going to put up a fight with you again, but judging by the way you treated me when I got back last year, the way you all treated me, you have an idea of how I felt all summer long."

Kate visibly deflated on the couch and she put her coffee on the table, suddenly not thirsty anymore. "I wasn't thinking straight, Rick, you know that now. I thought you'd all be safer that way. I would've stayed in town but my dad wouldn't hear any of it. I came straight here when I left the hospital, they didn't even let me go back to my apartment to grab my things."

"They?"

"My dad, and Lanie."

"Oh. I know it's useless to say this now, but I had offered your father to let you stay with us at the loft while you recovered, but he refused. I even tried to get him to borrow the Hamptons house but he said you needed to get away from everything."

"I didn't know, he never mentioned it." Kate was staring at Castle in surprise and shock. In truth she had expecting him to make such an offer, but she later thought he must have had decided otherwise. "I'm not sure I would have accepted, but it was a really sweet thing to do, Rick."

Castle smiled, acknowledging the woman's admission for what it was. Kate had issues when it came to let people in to help, but just to know that she would have at least consider his offer was good enough for him. "I'm going to hug you now."

Kate opened her mouth to talk but Castle's arms were already around her, pulling her from the couch so they were side by side, her slender body pressed against his chest. "You've become quite the hugger, Castle."

"Well, I don't know how long you'll let me hug you without having to fear being shot so I'm taking advantage of every chance I can get."

Kate only tightened her grasp around the man's back as a shudder raced through her body. "Castle? Can we never use that expression again? I don't like it anymore."

"More than fine by me." He whispered in her ear and pressed his lips on the top of her head, the emotions of getting to feel her warm body in his arms again almost choking him to tears. "Oh!" He exclaimed out of the blue and regretfully pulled back from the embrace. "I forgot something in the car."

"Can't you get it later?"

"Can't get enough of me already, detective?" Castle stared and felt a smirk lifting his lips, but still he shook his head and turned on his heels. "But nope, they'll get ruined! Don't move from the couch."

Kate stood as soon as Castle was outside but, after an hesitation, sat back with a sigh. She hated surprises.

There were some strange sounds filling the small cabin as Castle came back, his arms behind his back and obviously holding something bulky. "Close your eyes."

"No."

"Beckett, please."

Kate rolled her eyes, but only because he had called her by her surname. It was strange to think that she had never truly noticed the change in his way of calling her. She had been Beckett and, one day, Kate had taken its place. Now he only used her surname when she was being particularly stubborn or when they were at a crime scene. "Fine. Better not hold a Sharpie there, Rick, or I'll make you regret the day you ever decided to become a writer."

A hearty laugh echoed and she jumped when his voice was in her ear. "Open your eyes, gorgeous."

Kate didn't even have time to glare at the man that he delicately placed a bouquet of colorful flowers on her lap. The mix of summer flowers brought a smile to her face, the arrangement of yellows, oranges, whites and reds forming a beautiful ensemble that mirrored the flames currently dancing in the fireplace.

It was only when she glanced at the foyer that she noticed the other bouquets on the table. There were two of them, bigger than hers and made of differently colored flowers. "Castle?"

"The flowers on your lap are for you and the others, there for you mother." The man told her as he sat next to her, close enough to provide comfort if asked but far enough to give her the space she seemed to be currently needing.

"The white and pink one is from the guys and Lanie, and the red and purple one is from Alexis, mother and I. I wanted to go and put them on her tombstone on my way here but then I realized that I didn't know where-"

"She's buried." Kate finished for him, her voice thick. "It's in Murray Hill, there are a couple of small cemeteries there."

"Cas- Rick, I...thank you. For the flowers. And for coming." Kate glanced at the man next to her, her heart thumping loudly in her chest as she caught him watching her with bright, loving eyes. "We can go and give them to her later, if you want?"

"Of course, anything you want." Castle complied with a grin. "Can we take your motorcycle?"

"I only have one helmet, Castle."

"Ah. Dibs on the driving since it's my car!"

"Castle-"

"Nuh-uh. My car, my rules.

Kate smirked and stared until it made Castle cave but, to her biggest surprise, it didn't happen. The writer challenged her with a smirk of his own and his eyes took a wicked glint which Kate knew from experience that it wasn't a good sign. "Castle..."

"My car, my rules."

"You don't know where it is."

"I have a GPS."

"So?"

"Are you really challenging me, detective?"

Kate didn't answer and only continued to stare, but she caught the slight twitch of his hand. Um.

"You know, I've been learning interesting things about you over the years. Some that you fought to keep it a secret but apparently failed."

"What do you mean?" Kate's glared faltered and she shifted slightly, already racking her mind for what the man could be talking about.

Castle grinned as he reached out and took the flowers from the woman's lap and placed them on the table, out of harm's way. "A little bird told me about a case where you had to go undercover. A case where you had to wear a mike. A well hidden mike, it seems."

Kate's poker face wavered briefly, confirming the man's words. "It was only a presumption, of course, but it somehow got confirmed when I took care of you while you were sick."

"You didn't." The detective's glare was on full force and anyone but Richard Castle would have run for cover by now if they had been the ones on the receiving end of it.

"You, my dear detective," Castle smiled widely, "are ticklish. Very ticklish, even."

"Nope."

"Kate."

"Rick."

"The way you squirmed when I accidentally brushed my fingers against your side, you know that spot just below the lower ribs, it was so...adorable, I just had to remember it for future reference." Castle knew she could easily hurt him for being so cocky, so when she remained silent, just observing him with a calculated look, it didn't take long for the man to start struggling with the desire to bolt from the couch.

They both observed each other intently, Kate biting her lip as her eyes lost what he called her 'cop glare'. If he didn't know better, he would have thought that she was getting nervous. "Did you mean it?"

'Huh?' "What?"

"You said 'anything you want'. Do you mean it?"

"Of course." Castle frowned, thoroughly confused. A small smile appeared on Kate's lips and she lifted her finger at him. "Okay. Come here."

"Huh?"

"Scoot closer, writer boy." Kate smirked but didn't roll her eyes.

Castle's eyes narrowed but obeyed, bracing himself for whatever she would do to him for having threatened her. He almost covered his ears in case she'd go for them but thinking it would only give her more ammunition, let his hands down against the couch cushions.

Castle finally inched close enough until his knees were flushed against the detective's thighs and, as predicted, saw Kate's hand raise forward. Castle's instinctively went for her side for retaliation when it stopped dead, halfway there. The delicate and incredibly soft hand had stopped inches from his ear, going for his jaw instead.

Castle's hand fell on Kate's waist and squeezed for support when he felt warm, silky lips on his.


	8. Chapter 8

"Hey Lanie, have you determined cause of death yet?"

Beckett didn't look up as she entered the morgue, her eyes glued to her cell phone, so she missed the glint in the ME's eyes and the sitealthy steps that brought her by the detective's side in a matter of seconds. "Hey!"

Lanie smirked, waved the detective's cell phone in her face and quickly retreated to the autopsy table before Kate could do anything about it. "What the hell, Lanie? Give me back my phone!"

"Nope. Not before you tell me what's going on between you and writer-boy."

Kate pulled up her poker face and blinked innocently at her best friend. "What do you mean?"

"Don't you dare play innocent with me, Katherine!" Lanie warned her with a scowl as she raised the phone and unlocked it to go through her friend's text messages. Kate quickly stridden to the ME's side to take her phone back before she had time to read anything but she wasn't quick enough. "Lanie Elena Parish, give me back my phone now!"

A raised eyebrow challenged her. "Or what?"

Kate stared at the shorter woman incredulously as she moved around the table. She wouldn't be able to catch her friend, but as long as she moved Lanie would have to keep an eye on her if she didn't want to risk being caught by the cop. "What makes you think there's something different?"

"Oh, change of tactics, detective? Something did happen, isn't it?"

"Give me back my phone, Lanie."

Lanie shook her head sadly to make it seem that she was disappointed in her friend. "I'm your best friend, Kate, don't you think I wouldn't know if something was different about you?"

Kate rolled her eyes, clearly not affected by her friend's act. "Okay, fine. You tell me what's so different that could justify that something is going on between Castle and me, and I'll tell you if it's true or not."

The glint in Lanie's dark eyes told Kate she had just walked inside the lion's den, and she was the dinner. 'Crap.' "Fine."

"Fine."

The glaring duel lasted for several long seconds before Lanie began. "You left town for almost five days because you were upset."

Kate's features sobered and she leaned against an empty autopsy table, her fingers unbuttoning her coat and removing her scarf after a short hesitation. This argument/discussion was going to take a while and she was already feeling too warm. "You know why I left, Lanie."

"I do, sweetie, but that's not what I wanted to talk about. Yet anyways. So you left, Castle goes AWOL the next day-"

"He went to the Hamptons with his daughter."

Lanie smirked and raised an eyebrow, eyeing her friend with a knowing look. "Quick on the alibi there, aren't we? So, you left, he left, and I know you went to see Castle before leaving because Javi talked to me about your, and I quote, 'sweet, badass bike'."

Kate paled even though she was feeling her cheeks starting to burn. "What?"

"His words, not mine. It's not Castle's fault either, Kate, Javi bought a phone just like writer-boy and he accidentally took Castle's instead of his. He has the picture of you on your bike as his background image." She told her friend, an amused smirk on her face. "He is right though. Too bad they didn't think of it when you did that photo shoot."

"You know, you talk a lot, Lanie, but I don't hear anything to back up your crazy theory." Kate took a deep breath and put her poker face back on as she was more and more certain that the ME had nothing on her nor Castle.

It wasn't like they had kissed at the precinct, or even held hands. They were so cautious about it it was starting to make Castle tick every time someone walked past them. They had only kissed twice over the weekend because as much as she loved it and wanted more, she wasn't ready to commit further and, thankfully, Castle knew it and accepted it.

The sudden silence around the women felt strange and it snapped Kate back to the present. Her eyes widened slightly when she found Lanie staring at her with a wide smirk and a perfectly manicured finger pointed at her face. "That."

"What?"

"That look, honey." Lanie's voice softened, not trying to force a confession out of her best friend anymore, wishing she'd admit it of her own free will. "From the day you got back there's been that little smile on your lips, and your eyes have been brighter and sparkly again. Do you know how long it's been since I haven't seen you smile like that?"

Kate's answer was soft, if not hesitant. "Too long?"

"You're damn right it's been too long. The thing is that for the last couple of days, no matter where you are you always have an eye on him, whether it's at the 12th, or at a crime scene. And you get this little smile whenever he locks eyes with you right before you look away in case someone would notice it."

"Ok, so it's normal for him to stare at me as much as he wants, but I can't make sure he's okay by looking around once in a while? Come on, Lanie, that's a little thin."

"Fine." Lanie was done playing games. It was time to get the big guns out. "Then why do you consistently blush whenever writer-_man_ touches you or looks at you for more than two seconds?"

Lanie watched as the detective's mighty poker face crumbled in less than three seconds flat. "Who?"

The pathologist didn't need to ask about what 'who' the cop was referring to. "Only Javi and Ryan knows. Karpowski was suspecting something but Kevin told her she was hallucinating things."

Kate nodded distractly but kept her eyes downcast, busy digesting the news. It was still so fresh and yet, their friends already knew. They hadn't even gone on an official date yet and somehow they, or more specifically her, had given them away.

Lanie heard her friend's mumblings but she couldn't make out what she was saying. Having made her point, she walked back to where the detective was and handed her back her phone. "What did you say, sweetie?"

Kate's sienna eyes were surprisingly soft when she met the ME's espresso ones. They always softened a bit whenever Lanie called her sweetie, or honey or any other affectionate name, and the doctor took pride in the fact that Beckett's father aside, she was the only one able to use those terms on her without having to fear the woman's murderous glare. "We haven't even been on a date yet."

"Does that mean that you two..."

Kate's face practically shone bright red. "Lanie! No! I, God!"

"Okay, sorry, too soon for that talk." Lanie muttered as she grabbed Kate's hand and took her outside of the autopsy room and down to her office. "Coffee?"

"No thanks."

"No? Are you sure you're okay, girl?" Lanie watched as Kate sat in a chair facing the ME's desk and stared blankly at her phone while she made herself a cup of coffee. The office was small and she had to share it with Perlmutter and another medical examiner but it was clean, spacious enough for the three of them to be there at the same time without stepping on each other's feet and the soft but warm wall colors were always a welcoming change from the omnipresent, stark white of the autopsy rooms. The best addition to the room, however, was the espresso machine Castle had offered them last Christmas.

"I kissed him."

Lanie twisted around sharply, surprise clear on her features. She grabbed her coffee and sat next to her friend to hear the rest of the story. "You made the first move? Honey! How was it? Spill!"

Kate rolled her eyes as a smirk grew on her lips. "Are you going to run off to the precinct the minute I tell you to claim the money _you all _bet on us behind our backs?"

"Of course not. I'm going to need prove of that if I want to collect the pot, you know that. Once I will have seen the two of you together then yes, I will make a run for it."

"Real classy, Lanie. Really." Kate shook her head, wanting to be annoyed but if she was honest with herself, it felt good to have someone to talk to. "Ow! Why did you do that for?" The detective whined as Lanie's small fist uncurled and lowered to grab her coffee cup.

"You can't stop at 'we kissed' and then stare off into space like that! Was there anything else involved beside kissing?"

Kate glared as she rubbed her arm. "No."

"Oh really?" Lanie glared back and she raised her hand again when Kate surrendered with a huge sigh. "Fine, fine!"

"We got into talking, after he got to the cabin. He gave me flowers, for my mom. Yours, and his." Kate breathed out softly, taking Lanie's hand in hers. "Thank you again for that, by the way."

"One thing led to another, he wanted to take my bike to go place the flowers on her grave, I didn't want to, and next thing I knew he was threatening me to tickle me to death if I didn't let him drive his own car."

Lanie burst out laughing but quickly fought to get it back under control when she gasped as she felt the detective's nails dig into her fingers. "I have you to thank for that, apparently, so if that ever happens I will hunt you down and unleash so much dirt about you on Espo it'll be a cold day in hell before you'll be able to look at him in the eyes again."

"Bully all you want, detective, there's nothing you can tell him he doesn't already know."

"We'll see." Kate refuted with a glint in her eyes, but her cocky attitude was rapidly fading. "He told me he'd do anything I asked him to, anything I could wish for."

"So you went for it."

"You could say that." Kate blushed and glanced briefly at her best friend before looking at her phone, busy buzzing repeatedly in her hand. She quickly typed a reply and hit 'send', not even noticing Lanie had released her hand so she could answered her phone. "I have to go."

"I'm sure you do."

Kate ignored Lanie's suggestive leer and stood, her hand still clutching her phone. "You want to have a drink or get something to eat later?"

"You're offering to spend you night off with me of your own free will?" Lanie smiled brightly and briefly squeezed her friend's arm as she pondered the options. "How about I pick up Italian on my way later and we spend the night at your place?"

Kate grinned in approval, nodding eagerly at her friend's suggestion. "Sounds good. Oh, and you'll see the changes I made with the place. The kitchen looks pretty good now, I can even cook and everything if I ever get crazy enough to do that...What?"

Lanie only smiled and wrapped her arms around her friend. "Nothing, sweetie, I'm just happy for you. I'll see you tonight around seven?"

"It's a date." Kate called over her shoulder as she left, shooting her friend a bright grin. "Oh, Lanie! Cause of death?"

"Don't have it yet, I'll call when I do. Now shoosh!"

Lanie didn't even bother hiding her smile as she heard the detective leaving. She took a deep breath and laughed, ecstatic about friend's news, until she realized something. Kate had admitted about the kiss, but she had somehow snaked her way out of dishing about it, as the ME wanted her to do. She was going to have to pay for that, the brunette decided as she grabbed her phone.

* * *

><p>"Hey, you're back. Lanie kidnapped you again?" Castle asked as the familiar sound of heels was heard throughout the bullpen. He jumped off her chair before she could push him out of it herself and smiled as she handed him a coffee. "Ahh, number 48. White Chocolate Mocha, with a pinch of cinnamon." He stated with a content sigh after having taken a big gulp of it, his eyes closing in appreciation. "You know that because of you, I am stuck being all wired up at night and forced to deal with it on my own since you still refuse to spend the night with me at the loft?"<p>

Kate choked on her coffee and glared at the man as he quickly took the scalding beverage from her. "Sorry, you're okay?"

"Do I look okay?" The detective wheezed as she tried to get her breathing under control. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Me? You're the one with the gutter mind, detective I was talking about coffee." Castle smirked but wiped him off his face before Kate could smack him off his face. "Do you still have a change of clothes here?"

Kate looked down at herself and groaned. She had to change two days ago after she and Castle got completely drenched when it starting pouring rain on a crime scene so the only thing she had left at the precinct was a tank top and a pair of running shoes. "Only a top."

"Why don't I go and get it while...no, you go get it, get changed and then come back here, where I'll be waiting patiently and not picturing you as you ah! Ha-ow ow ow!"

"If you can promise to keep your head out of the gutter, Castle, then maybe I'll let you come with me." Beckett whispered to him, but she still didn't release his ear. "No touching, and no looking."

"Not even look- Ah! Ah-ha, apples, apples! Okay, okay! Damn, woman, you run a tough deal."

"Maybe Castle, but the wait is _oh so _worth it." The cop smiled as she looked at him over her shoulder, smirking at his sudden dazed expression. "You coming?"

"Where do you think they're going?"

Esposito glanced at Ryan and smirked. "I don't know where they're going, but I know what they're going to be doing soon."

Both detectives were in the break room getting coffee when they had witnessed the beverage incident and neither of them had missed how the writer's hand had came up to rub soothing circles on their boss's back. They had watched in silence until Ryan had mentioned that Kate hadn't even seemed to mind the man's hands on her. "Do you think they..."

"Gross, bro, I don't want to know about that! Beckett's like a sister to me, I don't need to hear that. Besides, I have more important things to do." Esposito rolled his eyes as he pulled out his phone.

* * *

><p>"Can I look now?"<p>

A hand on his shoulder gave him the answer he needed. Castle turned on his heels and met a set of amused, sienna eyes right before her lips were on him, shutting him up before he had time to come up with any crude comment.

His hands found their way to her cheek and hand, as if scared she would slip away if he didn't hold on to her. Her lips were sweet and warm against his, and Castle groaned as they roamed from his mouth to his jaw until they reached his ear. "Happy now?"

"Very." He whispered just as he brought back her face to him, feeling the need to look at her eyes shift from sienna to green when his tongue slowly traced the detective's soft lips, demanding entrance. "Kind of, yeah."

Castle stiffened and pulled Kate away from him. "Kind of? Why do I- You are so evil." He muttered when he saw the smirk on her face. Kate laughed and cupped the writer's cheek, letting her thumb stroke the slightly rough beard covering his jaw. "And _you _are so easy."

"Yeah?"

"Yes, that's why it's so much-Castle!" She yelped and slapped Castle's hand away before he had time to grab her waist again. "Don't you dare, Richard Castle!"

"I knew you were ticklish!" He practically shrieked gleefully when his suspicions were confirmed.

Kate glared and gawked at the man. "You were bluffing? Richard Castle, I-"

"Apples! Apples!" He shouted readily as soon as he saw that she looked just about ready to pounce on him. "Come on Beckett, it was just so easy, I couldn't help myself!"

The detective stopped two feet away from him, her head cocked to the side as she debated whether she should believe him or not. She realized a second too late that she was being played again as his hands were on her waist, his agile fingers finding the exact spot where she was the most sensible to the touch.

Unable to stop a squeal from escaping her lips, Kate raised an arm so she could headlock the writer into submission but his arms were quicker and wrapped themselves around her just as his mouth found her neck. His lips pressed feather light kisses at the base of her jaw and down to the pulse point, Castle enjoying the feeling of her strong heartbeat against his skin, before his mouth moved up and settled behind her ear.

He smiled against her soft skin as he felt her shiver and relaxed in his arms. "Kate?"

The moan that vibrated inside the woman's throat almost sent him to his knees. "Castle, we- it's not-"

"It's not the right time, or place, I know." He agreed with a deep sigh, letting her stepping out of his embrace regretfully. "Is tonight-"

"I have plans with Lanie." Kate groaned as she pulled herself away completely from the man, and frowned suspiciously when she took in his smirk. "What?"

"Nothing," Castle was quick to answer, forcing his amused smile to change into a softer one. "You're adorable you get all flustered."

"Castle-"

"Fine. Can I at least stay with you until you leave to meet her?"

Kate rolled her eyes as she ran a hand in her hair, hoping she wasn't too dishevelled. "I'll be doing paperwork, Castle."

The writer wasn't ready to let her go just yet. "I'll make you a coffee."

"A cappuccino like last time" Kate bit her lip and asked hopefully after a short hesitation.

Castle grinned and stole one last peck on the cheek as he turned her around and gently pushed her toward the exit. "Of course, detective. Anything you want."

Lanie was grabbing her coat, happy to be done for the day when her phone chimed. Seeing that it was a text message from Esposito she waited until she was in her car to read it, where no one would disturb her.

'_Freaking finally, chicka.'_ She read the words, confusion etched on her face until a second message popped on the screen, with a video attachment. _'Stumbled onto this, thought you owed to witness it too. Love you Lane. xo'_

Her heart fluttering nervously, Lanie quickly downloaded the video onto her phone and pressed play as soon as it was ready to play. The image was shaky at first, the focus was not that good and there was some faint whispers during the first seconds of it, but she rapidly recognized Castle's voice when the whispers got louder. _"Kind of? Why do I- You are so evil."_

Lanie absently brought a hand to her mouth, wondering where this was going. She could make out lockers in the background, so she knew it was at the precinct, in the locker room, with her friends standing in a corner, supposedly away from inquisitive eyes.

Her brain was already going through a hundred possible scenarios when Kate's squeal made her jump and shriek as well.

Grasping her phone tightly, the medical examiner watched with wonder the more than playful banter between her best friend and her partner. Her eyes widened and her lips stretched into a stupefied smile as she heard the detective laughed and let Richard Castle wrap himself around her, the voices quickly fading as they talked to each other more intimately. "I'll be damned..."

Happy tears pooling in her eyes, Lanie typed a quick response to the Latino detective as soon as the video was over, thanking him and threatening to never sneak up on their friends like that again if he wanted to keep certain parts of his anatomy intact.

Glancing at the time, Lanie decided to make a small detour before heading to her friend's apartment to stop and pick up her and Kate's favorite dessert and wine on top of their dinner. This was a night to celebrate. The pool at the precinct could wait a little while longer.

* * *

><p>Thanks once again for the alerts, reviews, favoriting the story, you guys are awesome! Keep them coming!<p> 


	9. Chapter 9

I officially, definitely, completely suck. I haven't dismised any of my stories, but real life really got in the way lately...After getting a nudge from a kind reader about this story, I promised I would have something up soon. This was not supposed to become so angsty, but...Consider it as kind of a bridge between the first chapters and what's coming next. Thanks a lot for reading for sticking with me and this!

* * *

><p>Richard Castle had never run as fast in his entire life.<p>

He has never managed to run more than five block at full speed either.

But, as he reached the corners of Broadway and 5th, his feet picked up speed and his frantic heart pumped even more blood in his desperate limbs as he half-ran, half-stumbled the last hundred feet, his whole body and soul agonizing.

The beat cops protecting the scene moved away as he charged towards them, one of them uselessly pointing him in the right direction.

Other cops and firemen obliviously formed a clear passage for the writer to use as he stormed past them, his eyes hopelessly stuck to the sight before him.

Castle ignored the chaos and shouts of people surrounding him as he almost came crashing on the crown vic's wrecked frame.

He didn't even feel a strong hand pulling him back until something, or rather someone shoved him back in warning. "Get it together, man."

Castle nodded and ran a sweaty hand down his face. Everyone noticed how shaky it was but no one commented on it. They knew.

Castle took several deep breaths as he walked to the car, struggling to keep a straight face on. He blocked out the image of the completely smashed car; he refused to even glance at the taxi cab still crushed against the detective's car, the way they formed one sick version of one gigantic mass of a faceless vehicle. He barely acknowledged Esposito's taut body leaning inside the vehicle, hiding the person he desperately needed to see. "Kate?"

His poker face went to hell the second the faint mewl escaped his girlfriend's lips. "Castle?"

Esposito had the sense to pull back before getting knocked back on his feet, freeing up the space for the writer to come closer. "Easy, Beckett, okay? Castle's here and they're almost ready to get you out of there."

Kate squeezed her friend's hand as he released it. "Thanks, Javi."

Castle forcefully ignored the blood staining the Hispanic detective, focusing instead on his girlfriend's features.

He almost wished he hadn't. "Hey."

He watched helplessly as his partner's throat struggled into make her vocal chords work. "Hey."

Castle reached inside and used his sleeve to gently wipe the blood trailing down her face, wincing with her when he inadvertedly pressed over a slowly forming bruise. "Sorry, love. I'm so sorry."

Kate tried to shake her head but the neck brace the medics had used to stabilize her spine made it impossible and she sighed, the air catching in her throat. The weak cough sent burning flames throughout her body and she went rigid, moaning as she tried to move. "Christ, Kate, don't move!"

"Hurts."

Castle bit the inside of his cheek. He had to keep it together until she was out of the car. One look at her face and he knew that if he broke now, she'd broke too. "I know, sweetie. It's almost over, okay?"

Looking inside the car, Castle focused on the woman's seemingly uninjured hand and took it, frowning at its coolness. His thumb automatically began to rub small circles in her palm, where she was most sensitive, to warm it up.

They spent the next moments in silence, the writer attuned to every hitch in his girlfriend's breath, cringing with her whenever a wave of pain tore through her.

Over fifteen minutes had passed when Castle saw from the corner of his eye Esposito and Ryan talking with one of the firemen. They weren't very happy, from the look on their faces. "Hey Kate?"

The detective hummed, her eyes blinking weakly through the haze of pain and shock.

"You really didn't want to have dinner with Paula tonight, huh?"

Kate barked out a surprised laugh. "Oh God, Castle. Don't make me laugh."

"Sorry, love."

"Stop…calling me…that." She panted as she struggled to look at him. "Rick?"

Castle immediately leaned closer and pressed a soft kiss on her cheek. "Yes, ma'am?"

The expected roll of eyes didn't happen but his partner did purse her lips a little. "I can't…can't see you. Please."

The way the taxi had crashed in Kate's car made it hard for a tall man such as Castle to lean inside enough to make eye contact with her but he made it work. The muscles in his back and legs protested as he kept himself half-bent over the car's thankfully open window, but he ignored them and smiled when their eyes finally locked. "Hey there, beautiful."

"I'm…sorry. Didn't get…you…your coffee."

"I don't care, as long as you're okay," he chided her gently and reached out, brushing his thumb over her lower lip. "Don't do that, you're hurt enough as it is." Kate finally released her reddened lip from between her teeth, and groaned. "It hurts, Rick."

Their relationship was still new. Although they had seen each other at their best and some of their worst, this side of Kate, broken and utterly miserable, was not something Castle had witnessed a lot. It terrified him.

Her admitting about being in pain, either physical or emotional, was not something the cop easily did, even now. If she had been conscious longer when she'd been shot, Castle had doubts she would've voiced being in pain so readily so, for her to share so promptly about being in pain left the writer heartbroken.

His hand coming up to cup the detective's cheek Castle leaned in and, a little awkwardly, brought their lips together in an attempt to distract her.

There was no way to tell if Kate was going to be pissed or not about the sudden move, but Castle got his answer when his girlfriend's mouth opened and he felt the tip of her tongue on his lips.

"Um. Sorry to interrupt, guys, but they're ready." Ryan apologized, his face slightly flushed but a gently smile on his lips.

This time the groan escaping Kate's throat wasn't one of pain. Castle chuckled weakly and kissed her forehead. Kate weakly rolled her eyes and bit back a whimper when the move aggravated the pounding in her head. "Castle?"

Castle kissed her one last time, and then peppering her pale features with light kisses as he heard heavy footsteps, no doubt belonging to firemen, approaching them. "Yeah?"

Kate swallowed and winced, her fingers twitching in the writer's hand. "I'm really fed up of getting stuck in cars."

* * *

><p>Because RL tends to suck my inspiration (and time) Reviews, comments, anything is welcome, really. Suggestions, requests andor ideas are welcomed as well! Oh, and...Castle is back in less then 24h! Can we all say HALLELUJAH!?


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